Shades Of Grace
by GCatsPjs
Summary: The Third in the Saint in the Shadows Saga. Booth, Brennan, and Antonia... What does their future hold?
1. Room Enough For Three?

_**This is the third in a series of fics, the following are the prequels to this fic, and it is recommended, though not necessary, that they are read before proceeding with this one. Their titles are:**_

_**Saint in the Shadows**_

_**The Spaces in Between**_

_**The saga began near Antonia's birthday in mid June, and the second was in the weeks and into the months following it. The following fic takes place in late November of the same year.**_

_**Please enjoy, and comment when the mood strikes.**_

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**SHADES OF GRACE**

This Monday morning started like any other morning, though the frantic knocking at the door was more frantic than it had ever been before.

"Mommy, open up!" Antonia's voice rang through the apartment, and her knocking became ever more insistent. "Mama, open up, Mama!"

Temperance felt a hand tap her hip, and she ignored it, and ignored the banging on the door. "Go get her ready." She mumbled.

"You go get her ready." He mumbled back.

"Mama! Is daddy in there with you?"

"She knows I'm in here." Booth mumbled.

"That's because you keep sneaking in here at night. This is my bedroom." She whined.

"It was my bedroom first." He replied, hearing the pounding on the door.

"I would love to give you credit for knowing the importance of chronological order, but your daughter is very close to using your technique for knocking the door down." Temperance mumbled into the pillow.

"Fine." He grumbled playfully as he rolled over her body and gripped the blankets. "But you're getting up too." He said, pulling the blankets off of her, she couldn't help but let out a dissatisfied squeak of protest as the blanket was ripped from the bed and he approached the door, dropping the blankets beside the door.

"Booth!"

"You have work too, young lady…" He said as he got to the door, glancing to see her scowl, his smile brightened. He then swung the door open and jumped into the hallway when Antonia jumped back in surprise. "Who is banging on my door?" He asked with a playful growl, lifting her up in the air, she giggled sweetly.

"That's not your door! That's mommy's door!" She exclaimed as Booth tickled her a little more, and pulled her into his arms.

"That's right, Baby… you tell him." Temperance said as she passed the two of them, leaning forward for a kiss from the little girl, she saw Booth leaning to give her a kiss and she stepped backwards to his dismay. "No kiss for you." She said as she turned to walk away, only to feel his arm around her waist as he pulled her backwards with a loud, resonating squeal, that sent Antonia into a wave of giggles. "No… no kiss…"

"Aw, Mama… give daddy a kiss, just a little one on his nose." Antonia said, leaning her head on his shoulder as she gave Temperance a pouty look.

"Nope… not even one on the nose… he stole my blankets, and is making me get up and go to work."

The little girl gasped and shook her head. "You shouldn'ta done that, Daddy… Mama likes to sleep in the morning."

"Says the girl who was banging on the door twenty minutes before Mama's alarm goes off."

She pressed her finger to Booth's lips and scowled. "It's school time, Daddy. Hush." She said, wiggling from Booth's arms, she ran for the kitchen and dining room for breakfast, leaving Booth and Brennan embracing in the hallway.

"Are you going to let me go, now?" She whispered, feeling a tender kiss on her head through her hair.

"Never."

"It's someone else's big first day too." She said, a smile slipping on her lips as she felt him rock her back and forth slightly.

"Mmhmm…" He said softly, continuing to kiss her head.

"Are you excited?" She asked, looking up at him, she noticed that he had a thoughtful look in his eye. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe we should officially move in together, Temperance." He whispered.

"I'm not ready yet." She said, turning toward the bedroom, she attempted to pull from his arms, but he didn't let go, and she struggled loosely in his arms. "Let me go, Booth." She whined.

"I can tell from the way you're fighting back that you are just being stubborn, Bones. We practically already live together… just because I have a mattress in the study, doesn't mean that I live there. You know that being apart isn't going to work. You remember the day that we discussed that." He whispered in her ear, feeling her nod against his lips, he kissed her temple as the memory came back.

* * *

_It was Booth's second night after being released from prison, Antonia came home with Temperance, and since they hadn't had a chance to talk, Booth came along as well. They spent the evening together at the apartment, and Antonia entertained him with dances around the living room, and hugs and kisses every chance she got._

_They sat down for dinner, and Antonia insisted on sitting right beside Booth as Temperance served them both, something that Booth had insisted that he could help with, but was hand smacked and sent from the kitchen in genuine 'mom' form, insisting that she could handle dinner, and he could wash the dishes with Antonia after dinner, to which he agreed, but with still a bit of resistance, until she literally pushed him out of the kitchen and told him to go play with his daughter._

_Dinner was over quite quickly, and for the first time ever, he felt like he was in a real family. They talked and laughed over their meal, and Antonia told many long winded stories that would generally end halfway through, and become new stories, where she would eventually end up finishing the first story on a strange route of conversation. After dinner, the dishes were cleared, and Temperance listened from the dining area as she busied herself with other tasks as the two in the kitchen worked together to wash the dishes._

_She peeked into the room, and Antonia was standing atop her pink princess stepstool beside Booth, towel in hand as he handed her a small salad plate._

_"I am a very good dish dryer, Daddy."_

_"I can see that, you're doing a very good job there." He said, washing the next plate._

_"Mommy lets me help all the time, and never gets mad when I drop a plate."_

_"Wait…" Booth said, giving her a faux scrutinizing glance. "You drop things?"_

_She looked up at him and tilted her head and smiled sweetly. "Sometimes, but it's okay… mommy says that we have too many plates anyway… and when it falls and breaks that its one less to clean."_

_Booth laughed and handed her the next plate. "Your Mommy is a very smart woman." He said, catching a glance of the subject of their conversation standing in the doorway. He turned his attention on her and smiled._

_Antonia noticed that Booth's attention was captured by something, and turned around. She waved at her mother. "Hi, Mommy."_

_"Hey, baby… are you guys doing a good job?"_

_"Yes." Antonia nodded. "No spots." She said, holding up the plate so her mother could see, she grinned and turned around, looking up at Booth, she surprised him with her next question. "Daddy? Where do you live?"_

_Booth wasn't sure how to answer the little girl's question, and referred back to Temperance, who approached the two of them, lifting the little girl from the stepstool, she took the next plate from Booth and handed it to the little girl. "That's something that he and I have to talk about, sweetie."_

_"You don't gotta talk. Daddy is staying in my room. He can sleep under the bed." She said sincerely. "That's where he used to sleep." She shrugged, handing the dry plate to Temperance, who put it in the cupboard and looked to Booth._

_He busied himself with cleaning the next dish. "I didn't sleep there every night." Booth replied quietly, handing Antonia the next plate, he looked Temperance in the eyes. "Sometimes I didn't sleep at all." He said, giving her a sad smile, he touched her hand with his damp hand, and she gripped it tighter as they shared a silent moment._

_"Here, mommy, dish is done!" She exclaimed loudly, breaking them out of their reverie, she slammed the dish into Temperance's arm hard; causing her to pull her hand from Booth's and grab the plate._

_"Hey, watch it… you're going to hurt your Mama…" Booth said as he watched the scowl on the little girl's face._

_"Dish is done." She said with an angry pout._

_"What has gotten into you all of a sudden?" Temperance asked as she put the plate up in the cupboard, the little girl was still scowling._

_"Daddy is staying in my room tonight." She said, knowing that she hadn't gotten her answer._

_"Daddy is not staying in your room tonight. Daddy is going to talk to Mommy about what we're going to do, but he's not staying in your room tonight, little one." Temperance replied as the towel in Antonia's hand swung hard and hit Temperance in the face._

_"Yes he is!" She exclaimed loudly as Temperance covered her eye with her hand._

_"Toni!" Booth exclaimed, reaching for the little girl, Temperance turned out of his reach._

_"No, she's going to bed right now." Temperance said as she stalked toward the little girl's room, her hand over her eye as Antonia began to wail._

_"Bones, are you okay?" Booth said as he followed them out of the kitchen, Antonia reached for him over her mother's shoulder, screaming for him. She swung open Antonia's bedroom door and turned sharply to face Booth. She put her hand on his chest. "Bones?"_

_"I'm okay. I'm fine…"_

_"Daddy! Save me! Daddy!" Antonia screamed, holding her arms out to Booth, it was absolutely breaking his heart, he just wanted to take her into his arms and hold her._

_"I am going to take care of this… just… give me a minute." She said, taking a step back, she closed the door in his face. As soon as Booth was out of sight, the little girl's screams became louder._

_Temperance stepped toward the bed and almost literally tossed her daughter onto the mattress, watching as the little girl clawed over the sheets to the edge. "No… you were very naughty!" Temperance explained. "You will stay on that bed until you apologize!"_

_"I don't want to apologize! I want Daddy! Daddy! Please save me! Please save me, Daddy!" She screamed. "I don't want you no more, Mommy! I want Daddy!" She sobbed as she gripped the sheets on her belly, tempted to run, though she knew that her mother was much quicker than she seemed._

_Temperance knew that there was no reasoning with her, she was absolutely hysterical, screaming on top of her lungs, so she just stood above her daughter with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting. Antonia screamed and screamed, looking up at her mother desperately as she screamed, waving her hand toward the door as Temperance shook her head slowly, and waited patiently for her to become bored with her fit._

_"You hurt Mommy, Antonia." She said, pointing to her eye, now slightly bloodshot with a red mark across her cheek. "You hurt Mommy physically, and now you're hurting her heart." She said, watching Antonia start to hiccup from screaming so loudly._

_"I want Daddy!" She screamed, gritting her teeth, forcing her face to turn redder than it already was._

_"And I want a well behaved little girl!" Temperance said, raising her eyebrows to the little girl as her tantrum caused her to cough, slowing her anger, making her hiccup, the volume of her voice was lowered and now she was just sobbing. "Are you through causing auditory impairments to the neighbors?"_

_"I…" She hiccupped. "I don't know what that means…" She hiccupped again. "I want daddy… If he goes, he won't come back." She sobbed._

_"You think daddy isn't going to be outside this door when I open it?" Temperance asked, reasoning with the little girl. She shook her head. "Well, I can assure you that he hasn't taken a step away from this door since we walked in here. I am sure that his heart is breaking hearing you scream like this."_

_"My heart is breaking, Mommy." She sobbed, taking her mother's words and twisting them, as any child would do in this situation, though Temperance refused to crack. "How… how do you know… How do you know he's still there?" She whimpered._

_"It could be many reasons… but I think the number one reason, is that he loves you…" Temperance said as she sat on the edge of the bed, gathering the hiccupping girl in her arms. "He's probably quite upset at the way that you've been treating your mommy for the past few minutes… and he's still there because he doesn't like it when you're sad." Temperance said as she lifted the girl into her arms, kissing her forehead and wiping the tears from her face as she walked toward the door with her. "Do you want me to show you?"_

_"Yes." She said, wiping the tears from her face, and looked into her mother's eyes as Temperance opened the door. The light from the hallway was blocked by Booth as he stood standing right where she had promised he'd be. Antonia looked to her mother, and then to Booth, her mother's eyebrows raised in expectation. "Hi." She whispered to Booth, who couldn't help but allow a slight smile on his lips._

_"Hi." Booth said, his heart breaking for his little girl. His eyes met with Temperance's and then back to the little girl._

_"I'm sorry." She whispered, seemingly to both of them at the same time._

_Booth looked to Temperance, who nodded her head, and he smiled slightly. "I still need someone to help me with the dishes." He said, holding his arms out to Antonia, who looked to her mother and waited. Temperance nodded slightly, and Antonia leaned forward to kiss her mother's cheek where she had struck her._

_"I'm sorry, Mama." She whispered, wrapping her arms around her neck, she gave a sniffle, before turning and letting Booth lift her from her mother's arms, he glanced to her, feeling the little girl's arms hug him tightly as he leaned forward._

_"You're the best, Mama." He whispered, capturing her lips softly and smiled a tender smile at her, before turning with Antonia, to return to their task in the kitchen._

* * *

"We do not want a repeat of that." Temperance whispered, rubbing her cheek as she looked up at him as he rocked her in his arms. "I need to take a shower." She said, turning around, she put her hands on his chest and looked up at him, tilting her head to the side. "Listen…" She said, staring at his chest for a moment, she brought her eyes to meet his. "We will… take this next step…"

"It's barely a step."

"Hush." She said, scowling at him, he raised his eyebrows and snapped his mouth closed.

"We'll take this next step… on one condition."

"What is that?" He said, watching her smile a sly smile.

"You let me pick out your tie for today…. And…"

"Nope… you said one condition." He said as he released her and started to turn.

"No, no… wait… and you have to let me drive us to work every morning!" She said, following him into the bedroom as he covered his ears.

"I can't hear you, Bones… Shower time… go pick out my tie… See you later, Bones…"

"Booth!" She exclaimed, as the door closed in her face, and all she heard on the other side was his sly giggle.

"I love you." He said, opening the door quickly to capture her lips, she stood there stunned, as the door closed once again, and a second later, the water running, as she sighed, rolled her eyes and made her way to find his tie.


	2. Secure Insecurities

Temperance leaned over the table as her daughter poked at her cereal. "Eat, you need your nutrients in order to have a successful day at your first day of pre-school." She said with a smile as Antonia looked up at her mother with a very annoyed expression.

"Why do I got to eat the brown cereal? Daddy's cereal has loops and is colorful."

"Because daddy enjoys having dangerously high levels of sugar in his system in order to get him through a day, while in reality he generally crashes at ten in the morning, and barely makes it through the day. Your cereal is good for you, and it will ensure you…"

"She's just trying to get you used to the taste of paste." Booth said as he walked into the room, straightening his tie.

"Booth." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"Where are my frooty loops?" He asked, looking through the cupboard, he pulled down a box and two bowls, poured himself one, and one for Antonia, sat down and poured milk in them as Antonia pushed the bowl of shredded wheat toward her mother and grabbed the bowl Booth was offering and looked up at Temperance's look of shock. "What?"

Temperance simply glared at him and turned to walk out of the room.

"Mommy is mad at you now." She said, taking a big bite of the sugary cereal.

"Yeah, maybe you should eat the other stuff…" He said, nodding toward the other bowl. "I have to work with her all day." He whispered. She nodded her head and pulled the bowl of shredded wheat toward the front of her, shoving a big spoonful in her mouth, she pushed the other bowl toward Booth and smiled, dropping bits of cereal into her bowl. "Don't waste…" She said, letting milk roll down her chin as Booth grabbed the bowl and gave her a grossed out look.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." He said as he wiped her chin and lifted the second bowl and began eating the cereal. "And don't worry… these won't go to waste." He winked as the little girl giggled.

After a moment, Temperance walked into the dining area with two brown paper bags and her bag slung over her shoulder, she noticed immediately that Antonia was eating the shredded wheat, and looked to Booth with a confused look.

"Mmm…" Booth said as he winked at her, his smile as charming as ever, as the same sentiment was echoed from the little girl beside him.

Booth finished up his cereal and stood up, grabbed his two bowls and Antonia's just as she finished slurping the rest of the milk from the bottom of the bowl with a satisfying 'ahh' sound, just like Booth. He walked over to the sink and rinsed the bowls out, knowing full well that he was being watched. He smiled and turned off the water as he turned his body to face his admirer, and he was met with an extremely amused, yet suspicious expression.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

"How did I do what?" He asked, walking past her, she grabbed his tie, and stopped him from walking past, he grinned and turned to face her.

"You know what." She glared, tugging at the tie, she gave him a scrutinizing glare and he just laughed and shook his head like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"I guess she just wants to be in your good graces today." He shrugged as she tugged him closer with the tie, his lips inches from hers when he felt resistance, and his eyes lifted to hers.

"You two have some sort of pact, don't you? Some kind of bet or tally, or gamble on which one of you is going to drive me crazy first, don't you?" She whispered as he just laughed, his innocent smile was the one that adorned his lips now, and she simply glared. "Oh, don't you give me that look, Seeley Booth… I am on to you."

"Mm… So many responses to that." He said, tipping his head he leaned in and gave her a tender kiss on her lips, just as both of them felt hands on their legs, attempting to push them apart.

"Okay, Break'em up… Time for school." She said, pulling at Booth, who snuck in one more kiss before stepping back, Temperance took a moment to fix his tie. She caught his eye and watched him smile at her as she shrugged shyly, and lifted the little girl up.

"Alright… who is ready for pre-school?"

"ME!" Antonia exclaimed as she grabbed a paper bag from the counter and handed it to Antonia.

"Here is your lunch…" She said, watching the little girl try to open it, she held it closed. "No peeking until lunch time…" She said with a smile, knowing full well that the bag would be opened in the car on the way. She handed Booth his bag and held the top closed. "This is your lunch… no peeking…" She said, watching his eyes narrow as he grabbed the bag and tipped his head.

"What, no diner?" He asked.

"You can decide between the diner, and the lunch I made for you." She said as she grabbed her bag and Antonia's bag and headed toward the door.

"Hey, hey… wait for me…" He said, grabbing his suit jacket, he swung it over his shoulders as he rushed after them and grabbed her keys at the door before she could, smiling at the glare he received. "Good tie choice." He said with a smile, as he reached out for Antonia and smiled as she climbed into his arms, and they were each out the door and headed for the car, to start their big day.

* * *

Just walk her into preschool and drop her off…That is exactly what Temperance thought she was doing with Antonia. She could compartmentalize, she could do this, she could hand her child off to complete strangers and go about her day normally.

She stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Mama?" Antonia asked when she realized that her mother stopped walking, and her daddy and she were still going.

Booth could see the look in her eye and knew exactly what she was thinking. "Bones, you can do this."

Temperance looked down at her little girl, wearing her blue, green, white plaid skirt and her pristine white blouse with the school's emblem on it, her brown curls light and breezy, and the little bow in her hair that matched the skirt. "I'm not so sure that I can." She whispered. "I think my dad is available." She whispered. "He can watch her."

"Bones." Booth said as he lifted the girl into his arms and faced her head on. "I didn't say anything when you decided that she should go to preschool… I didn't say anything when you enrolled her into this hoity toity preschool… and I didn't say anything…because I thought you were ready for all of this."

"This isn't a hoity toit school." She argued, her brow knitted in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Bones…" Booth whispered, reaching for her hand, she let him take it as he leaned forward resting his forehead on hers. "You can do this."

"She's my baby." Temperance whimpered.

"I know, but you can do this…you've faced down serial killers, Bones… this is Elmo we're talking about here. I know… he's intimidating with his eyes popping out of the top of his head, and the way that he convulses into fits of maniacal laughter." He said with a smirk on his face as he noticed she was beginning to cave. "But you can handle this… we can handle this."

"I can handle this." Antonia said, sighing. "Can I go to preschool already?"

Temperance looked at her daughter's sincere expression, the one that matched Booth's exact expression and she sighed. "Why am I the only one having an issue with this?" She asked.

"Because she's your baby… and you don't want her to grow up."

"Of course she's going to grow up." Temperance said, looking at Booth desperately. "It's normal, it's logical… she's going to grow up." She whimpered, trying very hard not to cry. "I mean, she needs to get older, and experience new things, and… and…"

"Bones…" Booth said softly as he watched tears roll down her cheeks.

"Mama, don't cry… I'll be brave." Antonia said, watching her mother's lip tremble, hers began to tremble. "I love you, mama…"

"I love you, baby…" Temperance said as she took her daughter into her arms and hugged her while she cried. Booth stood by the two of them, looking around the hallway to see if anyone was watching, he blocked the view of his two girls from a gawker or two as he listened to their crying start to wane, and he turned around and lifted Antonia from her mother's arms.

"Okay, you two… it's enough with the mushy stuff… You are going to pre-school… and you are coming with me… let's go…" He said, lifting the little girl to the floor, she wiped her face with her sleeve and looked up at Booth as he put his arm around her mother, and kissed her cheek. Temperance regained her composure quickly, wiping the stray tear away as she took a deep breath and gave Booth a grateful glance. Antonia then reached up and gripped his hand as the three of them made their way to her classroom, and her first official day of pre-school.

* * *

The drop off went smoothly, and before they knew it, Temperance and Booth were back in the car, though it was now eerily silent. They sat for a moment in the parking lot, and Temperance looked to Booth. "It's so quiet without her." She said, that soft tone in her voice was an indication of the deep emotions she was feeling at that moment. He could tell that she was just moments away from crying.

"We will go get her together after work, take her to a nice dinner… and it won't be quiet anymore once she gets jabbering about her first day." Booth said, trying to make things light, though he could tell she wasn't in the mood, her eyes were focused out the window, and her head was tilted, and she sighed. "Aw, Bones… what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing." She sighed. "Let's just get to work, we're already running behind, and Cam has to show you your new work space, get your ID renewed…" She trailed off as he furrowed her brow and sighed.

"So what is this new job that they made up for me at the lab, Bones? You never really explained it." Booth said as he pulled into traffic.

"Chief Forensic Ballistics Expert… and it's not a made up job." She explained, her voice back to its normal, clinical self. "You're in charge of testing and backing up the programs that Angela has created for Ballistics pathology. She doesn't have a background in ammunition training, and having you on board would be helpful as an expert witness to any cases involving gunshots, firearms, or explosives."

"So what do I do when there isn't a case involving guns and ammo?" He asked as he turned his head and looked at her as she looked into his eyes. She gave him a sheepish grin and shrugged. "What is that?" He asked, his brow furrowing, her silence making him nervous.

"You're my personal security." She said, watching a playful smile play about his lips as he shook his head in disbelief.

"You're kidding."

"What? I have a partner for the crime solving… but I may need extra protecting… another gun… one that I can rely on to watch my back. It's not unreasonable to think that I will be put into dangerous situations, Booth, and with Harding as a virtual rookie, I'm going to need someone to watch my back at all times. Someone that I know that I can trust with my life." She said with a shrug as she looked out the window with a slight smile that she tried to hide from him as he pulled into the parking garage and flashed his ID for the attendant.

"And what did Harding think of that?" Booth asked, knowing that her request for extra security would not be good for his friend's ego. He pulled into Temperance's parking spot, and shook his head, putting the car into park.

"He doesn't get a choice in the matter." Temperance said as she jumped from the vehicle and grabbed her bag. "I get my choice of backup… and if I can't carry a gun myself, then I want someone who I know for a fact knows how to carry one, backing me up." She said as she watched him smile at her for a moment. "Let's go, Booth, chop chop…" She said with a smile, and she closed the door to the car and started walking toward the elevator, his laugh following close behind her, as he jogged up along her side.


	3. Everything Changes

They rode in the elevator together, his eyes on her, her eyes on the numbers as they ascended to the floor that the lab is on, she glanced to him and gave him a half confused look. "What?"

"Nothing." He shrugged, looking to the numbers as she had been a moment before, he could feel her eyes on him, and he looked at her, catching her eye. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She shrugged, smiling before turning her attention to the doors as they opened, she stepped forward toward the lab and left him in the elevator.

"Hey, hey… wait up…" He said, grabbing her hand as she turned around instantly and grabbed his tie. "Whoa."

"Kiss me." She whispered.

"What?"

"Kiss me." She said again. "Kiss me really quickly… before someone realizes we're here… we can't kiss in there, and I want you to…" She didn't have to speak another word, and his lips were on hers, his tongue delving into her warm mouth, and his arm wrapped around her back as he pulled her into him in a passionate embrace. They were so caught up in the moment that neither heard the lab's sliding doors open, and neither noticed the small crowd of people who were watching this very public display of affection. However, they did hear the clapping, as Angela started it, startling the two of them apart, as the rest of the crowd began to clap, and Hodgins even let out a cat call as they looked at everyone with a look of shock on their face.

"We… were…" Booth stammered, trying to catch his breath, he wiped the residual lipstick from his lips and glanced to Temperance. "We had…to…"

And without a second look, Temperance's nose was in the air, and though her cheeks were flushed from the passion of the kiss, she remained as professional as ever. "What are you all standing out here for, don't you have jobs to do?" She asked, though her hand snaked back and grabbed hold of Booth's as she entwined her fingers in his. He obeyed and came along with her, squeezing her hand, he smiled an amused smile at everyone as they passed the crowd, smiles were shared by all as they stepped into the lab.

Booth had to stop, the moment he set foot back in the large, sterile environment that he remembered. Something had changed about it, there was something new and different. It wasn't bad or negative, but positive, and the whole lab appeared to seem a little brighter to him, warmer to him, more inviting, more alive.

"What did you guys do with the place?" he asked, noticing that Temperance was watching his sudden state of awe.

"I don't know what you mean, Booth. This is the same lab as it was when you left. Nothing has changed." She shrugged, releasing his hand as everyone from the hallway began to get the lab moving again, as Hodgins walked past him and patted him on the back.

"It's good to have you back, man." He said, heading up the stairs to the platform, he scanned his card and looked back to grin at Booth.

"Hey, Thanks." Booth said as he was instantly hugged by Angela, who made sure to reach up and kiss his cheek.

"It's good to have you back, big man." She said with a smile as she left Cam to give Booth a hug next.

"I haven't seen you since the party." She said, feeling his strong arms around her, she looked into his eyes and she could see genuine happiness shining back.

"I've been busy…" He shrugged. "But I guess now, you're the boss, huh?"

"Actually, I am the boss." Temperance said, stepping up toward Booth, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked between Booth and Cam as they separated from their hug, and the three of them stood awkwardly.

"Huh?" Booth asked.

"Doctor Brennan is in charge of the cases, she's in charge of those that work for her now… she's in charge of you."

"You didn't tell me that." Booth said, glancing to Temperance, he looked almost nervous.

"When you… left, Doctor Brennan stopped working with the FBI on fresh cases. She stuck to cold cases that she had skeletons for, and anthropological research. Because I deal with mostly flesh, I let her head up the team in a way she thought seemed fit. I still am her boss, I still am the authority… but I haven't dealt much with the cases themselves recently." Cam explaned.

"Do you have issues working for a woman?" Temperance asked brazenly, knowing the answer, but she also knew that she could shake him up a little, and she watched as he shook his head.

"No, no… of course not, Bones."

"So the issue is that you are working for me?"

"No, Bones." He said, shaking his head, waving his hand to make himself clear. "There's no issue, no problem, I promise… I was just surprised, that's all. You said that Cam was going to be doing all of this stuff with me, and since you work for Cam… I figured…"

"Well, you work for me… you're all mine." Temperance said, with a bit of fire in her eyes, she glanced to Cam, who gave Temperance a close lipped, knowing smile and Booth realized that he had missed a silent conversation that had just occurred between the two women. "Cam, I was just going to talk to Booth about the lab a little… there are a few changes that he should be aware of…" She said, watching Cam nod.

"You said everything is the same." Booth said, though his voice held a joking tone, he could see that Temperance didn't see it that way.

"Everything can't be the same, Booth." She said, nodding toward her office. "Come with me." She said, stepping away from Cam and Booth, she walked quickly and effortlessly across the floor as she heard his feet falling into step beside her.

"So when do I get my gun?" He asked, amused when she stopped, forcing him to nearly collide with her.

"You get your gun when you pass your exam, Mr. Booth." She said as she kind of scowled at the sound of that.

"It left a bad taste in your mouth, didn't it?" He asked, watching her nod her head and smile as she pulled open the door to her office and stepped inside. "Yeah, me too." He said as she flipped on the switch.

"You'll get your gun when you pass your marksmanship test. Since the FBI has dropped all charges and cleared your record, you should be able to easily obtain a firearm, since it is within your job description for you to carry one." She trailed on as she turned to see that Booth was still standing in the doorway, looking around her office, dumfounded. "What's wrong, Booth?" She asked.

"Just… taking it all in." He said, a ghost of a smile on his lips as his mind registered the changes to her office, the way that it had been transferred from a fortress of neat and tidy order, to a place where construction paper scratched with crude drawings and finger turkeys with colorful 'feathers' adorned the walls, along with the presence of a small pink table, with four tiny pink chairs, and a tea set that looked like it was well worn and ready to be used at the drop of a hat. "Does Toni have friends here at the lab or something?" Booth asked, his eyes finally moving to meet Temperance's.

"I'm sorry?" Temperance asked as she noticed where his eyes had settled, and then met with his, a slight blush to her cheeks. "Oh… no, well… sometimes she will come in the morning with me while I wait for my father to pick her up, or he brings her for a visit in the afternoon, and the lab assistants will play tea party with her… sometimes, Ange and Hodgins will watch her, and she always insists on a tea party."

"There are four chairs." He said, raising his eyebrows as he walked to the toys and smiled.

"I am always invited."

"So you have an open invitation to all of her tea parties…" Booth asked, an amused expression on his face.

"Of course." She said, her tone sounding offended. "I am her mother… besides, this is my office." She said, nodding to something across the room, Booth turned his head and had to laugh out loud. Temperance smiled as she walked toward the encased mummy that had always been in her office. Taped to the front of the glass case was several pieces of paper, cut to make the shape of a shirt, and pants, colored haphazardly with crayons and taped to the glass. "Antonia informed me that it was inappropriate for my mummy here to be naked in the workplace, so she offered up some of her artistic skills to make sure that it wasn't 'cold' any longer." She said as Booth began to laugh. "Angela thought it was a good idea, so she cut the papers in the correct shape and size and the two of them colored them one weekend when I had some paperwork to finish up. I came in here, and this is what I found." She said, watching Booth step over to the case, staring at it with awe, his fingertips running over the paper as he let out another chuckle. His face then became serious, and she watched as he let out a slow sigh. She could tell that he was trying not to be affected by it all.

For the most part since his release, he had stayed away from all things in his past life. He hadn't entered the Hoover building, he hadn't entered the lab. In fact, when interviewing with Cam about the possibility of being hired by the Jeffersonian, he had insisted that they meet at a neutral location, the diner or the Founding Fathers.

He wanted his re-entry into the 'real world' to be pure and untainted. He wanted to experience it with Temperance. He wanted it to be for the right reasons. It wasn't as if he needed the money to get by, the FBI had provided him with a severance package that would make anyone's mouth water, and though he knew that it was just an attempt to appease him in the possibility that he wished to litigate, he didn't care as long as he had his family back.

He and Harding had both been awarded commendations by the FBI and the federal government for their bravery in serving their country and for doing their duties, and Booth received several awards for his bravery in defending his family, and risking his life to bring down this terrorist that had not only hurt his family, but so many others. Booth didn't care about the awards and the commendations, however. All Booth wanted, was Temperance, Antonia, and Parker, and to live his life in the open air, and not hiding like a fugitive. Booth could never stay still though, and knowing that Temperance would continue her work with the FBI unnerved him slightly, so he had pushed for some kind of position that would keep him in close proximity, and working for the FBI was never a possibility.

He had worked with Cam, described his desires and wishes as he felt reasonable, and she had said she would do what she could to get a position cleared for him, and Temperance had made sure that the Jeffersonian knew her feelings on the matter. She didn't think she needed his protection, but she knew that he needed to feel that he was protecting her. She also worked with Cam, and together they provided the Jeffersonian with a position for which Booth would be more than willing to participate in, and was more than qualified to fill.

"Booth?" Her voice was a bit shaky, as if she had been trying for several minutes to get his attention. He snapped his head in her direction and smiled.

"Hmm?"

"Did you want to go meet with Cam now?" She asked, again sounding like this wasn't the first time she had asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" He nodded, a smile on his face as he tried to assure her to the best of his ability. "Yeah, I'm okay… there have been a lot of changes around here." He smiled. "Nothing bad." He shook his head. "They're not bad changes or anything."

"I understand." She nodded. "Do you need anything else?" She asked, moving around to the other side of her desk, she gave him an expectant look.

"You're trying to get rid of me." He stated, watching the slight smile on her lips as she shrugged.

"Go on and spend some time with the rest of your family, Booth. They missed you too, you're not tethered to me."

"But I work for you." He said, the tone he was using was slightly sarcastic, but not rude. He just thought that it was a funny situation, and he wasn't quite sure what he thought about it.

"You don't work for me, Booth. You work with me… and you're not just my security in the field, you're the security for the entire team… so it's not like you're going to be bored… Go on, meet your colleagues. I'll be in here working on the pile of work that I didn't finish last week."

"Okay." He said, with nervous enthusiasm. "Bones?" He said, watching her look up, he tilted his head and smiled.

"I missed you too." She said, sharing his smile as she watched him almost skip from her office to start off his first day of a new experience.

She watched him for a moment, the excitement that she could feel radiating from him made her smile. She sighed as she sat down in her chair, her body feeling absolutely drained of all energy, she sat at the desk and rested her head in her hands, as she closed her eyes for maybe just a couple more minutes of rest before her day started.


	4. And It Begins

The moment Booth stepped from her office, he felt a pang of something deep in his gut that didn't sit right with him. He glanced back into Temperance's office and noted that she had her head rested in her hands, a move that he rarely saw from her in the past, and wondered if her exhaustion had anything to do with their situation. She had looked a bit pale lately, a little under the weather, and quite tired for the past month or so, and in her usual compartmentalizing ways, she would push it aside and act as she always did, not allowing those physical emotions bleed into her displayed emotions. He was tempted to step back into her office to confront her, but was suddenly grabbed by an extended arm, and pulled excitedly across the lab.

He turned to find Angela was attached to the other end of his arm, and smiled at her exuberance. "It's good to see that you don't hold a grudge." Booth said with a laugh, watching the glare coming in his direction, he chuckled. "I take that back."

"Listen, Booth… we've all talked about this, and we have all agreed that having you back is very, very good… but there are a few things that you need to know about the lab before we even start."

"Right." Hodgins said from the platform, he watched Angela tug Booth along to the platform, she swiped her card and gave the security guard a 'seriously?' glare when he approached them about bringing Booth up onto the platform. The security guard backed off and Booth looked around as he stepped up onto the platform.

"I thought I was going with Cam…" Booth said, an amused grin on his face as Angela pulled him to Hodgins, and both of them pulled him to the far side of the platform.

"Quiet." Angela said, stopping Booth, she pushed him onto a chair and stood back, as she and Hodgins stood over him.

"Why do I feel like you two are going to use me for an experiment?"

"Listen…" Angela said, watching Booth's innocent look turn a bit irritated as they stood above him. "We're a little worried about how you're going to handle this…"

"Mostly, Angela is worried." Hodgins said, raising his eyebrows when Angela glared at him.

"Worried about what?" Booth said, kicking the chair back, he stood up, asserting the point that he wouldn't be pushed around.

"About Bren… and Harding… and the FBI, and the fact that you two aren't partners anymore."

"I don't follow." Booth said as his eyes narrowed.

"You're not the big cheese anymore, Booth." Hodgins said, cringing a bit at the way Booth's jaw set. "We want to make sure that you're okay with that."

"I really should go see Cam now." Booth said, starting to move past Angela and Hodgins. "But thanks for the pep talk guys, really."

"Booth, come on… we're just trying to help you out." Hodgins said as Booth turned around.

"Trying to help me out how? By bringing me down? I know where I stand here guys, but thank you for reminding me, thanks for bringing me down a notch. Thanks for making me feel welcome." He said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice as he shook his head. He stepped down the platform steps and through the lab toward Cam's office, seeing the object of his search standing just outside the doorway.

"What's going on, big man… you have that look in your eye." Cam said, ushering him into her office.

"What look?"

"The 'one more word and I'll shoot you' look." She said with a smile that made him feel slightly more comfortable.

"I just got the 'you're not the big cheese anymore' lecture from the squints." Booth grunted.

"Please tell me they did not use that terminology."

"Verbatim." He said, leaning back in the chair as Cam moved around to her chair and sat down.

"I apologize for their behavior, Booth… but you know them… they can't keep their noses out of anyone's business. They've been Doctor Brennan's support since you've been gone, and I don't think they're going to see to their replacement very easily."

"I am not replacing anyone." Booth huffed. "I am enhancing… besides… what was Hodgins ever going to protect her from? A flea infestation? Listen Cam, I don't need this job in order to live, I just need this job so that I can be with Bones."

"And you need her in order to live." Cam said pointedly, stopping Booth's speech before it even began. "I understand the importance of you being here, Booth. If I didn't, I wouldn't have had you hired into this position. Doctor Brennan, while she works perfectly fine with Agent Harding… He's not you… and he will never be you. So let's rewind here and cancel the pity party before it begins. Your ID…" She said, sliding a card across the desk, he immediately noticed the older picture, but said nothing. "You have all of the same security abilities as previously… if not, more…" She said softly. "This is access to the entire lab, and all adjoining rooms excluding offices… you will have your own work station, on the east end of the lab with required equipment, computer, desk and weapon cabinet."

"Equipment?" Booth asked curiously.

"Booth… you're our new ballistics expert… you're going to need equipment in order to perform experiments, and test Angela's…"

"Experiments? Like Hodgins style… blow up the lab, experiments?" Booth asked, watching his eyes widen, she wasn't sure if he was happy with this, or not, she waited.

"Yes. You will perform live experiments with the aid of the other lab techs in order to…"

"Wait." He said, stopping her mid-sentence, he held up his hand and closed his eyes. "Other… lab techs…are you saying that you're making me into a squint?"

Cam's jaw was slightly open as she widened her eyes. "Uh… well…"

Booth stood up suddenly. "I have to go talk to someone." He said as he turned and walked away from the office, a bit of fire in his step, and Cam closed her eyes in anticipation of what she knew was to come, and like she had predicted, she heard the sound of Doctor Brennan's office door slamming closed.


	5. Old Dogs

The instant the door slammed, Booth knew that he had made the wrong decision. As the door swung to its mighty halt against the frame, he realized that Temperance was not actually moving on all cylinders, if at all. He tried to grab the door, but before he could get his hand between the door and the frame, the slam rattled the office, and her.

Temperance literally jumped from her chair, tripping backwards, her chair rolled back and she almost lost her balance, sending her stumbling into the chair as it slammed into the bookcase behind her. Her eyes were wide in shock, and she grabbed her chest, equally surprised to see Booth standing in her office, his eyes also widened in shock. "Booth!" She exclaimed.

"Shit, Bones… I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, running toward the desk, she held her hands out to him to stop him, and he grabbed her arms and she dropped them as he nearly knelt before her, the look on her face still full of shock and surprise as she stared at him, breathing heavily as she tried to recover. Tears sprang to her eyes suddenly as she stared at him. "Bones, are you okay? Talk to me… talk to me, baby." He whispered, all thoughts of why he came barreling into the room had disappeared with her tears.

"Why?" She whispered. "Why are you… why did you...?"

"Were you sleeping at your desk?" He asked, watching her compose herself instantly.

"No." She said softly. "Why did you come slamming into my office?" She asked, taking a deep breath, she very carefully compartmentalized, trying to erase her earlier reaction. She tried to defer the questions completely onto him. "Booth?" She asked in a more demanding tone.

"No, no… you answer my question first… what's wrong, Bones?"

"Nothing is wrong. Why did you come into my office and slam my door? Are you upset with something? Are you dissatisfied with the conditions of your position?" She asked, standing up quickly, she instantly felt dizzy and grabbed the desk.

"Bones… you're making me very nervous… what's going on with you?" He said, leaning down to catch her eye, she simply gave him a tired sigh.

"You know very well that I didn't sleep well last night." She said, raising her eyebrows at him, she felt better and stood up straight, reaching for the bottle of water beside her computer screen, she held it in her hand as she spoke. "Between Antonia's nightmare… you sleeping restlessly…"

"I got up with Toni, Bones… I told you that I had her…"

"Yes, Booth." She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she sighed, placing the water bottle on the desk again. "But do you know of any mother who is able to go back to sleep after her daughter wakes up screaming like that in the middle of a nightmare? You were able to lie back down and go to sleep, because you sleep extremely lightly… but if she wakes up like that, I cannot go back to sleep as easily." She said softly. "It was difficult enough to get her to bed last night in the first place." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"Maybe you need a couple more days off, Bones." He said, watching as she glared at him and shook her head.

"Perhaps I should just wait until Antonia marries and moves out of the house before returning to my career." She said with an exasperated sigh, she sat down hard in her chair and rested her head in her hands.

"All that I'm saying, Bones… is that if you're having problems sleeping… then we need to do something about it." He said, crouching beside her.

She sighed into her hands, looking at him through her hands. "Why did you come slamming into my office, Booth?" She whispered.

"It's not important."

"You walked into my office… you slammed the door… you scared the crap out of me, and now you won't even give me the decency of an explanation?" She asked with an aggravated growl.

"Bones." He said softly.

"Booth." She sighed. "I'm tired… just talk."

He sighed and stood up, watching her sit back in her chair, she waved her hand to the chair that was across from her desk. He rolled his eyes and walked around the desk, he sat down and leaned forward. For added emphasis, and perhaps a bit of support for herself, Temperance leaned on her desk and raised her eyebrows.

"They want to turn me into a squint." He said, letting the sentence sprinkle into the air, and when whispered, it sounded more ridiculous than he thought.

"You're already a squint." She replied, not waiting for further explanation.

"I am not!" He exclaimed, sitting back, he gave her a scrutinizing glare, of which she returned with full fire.

"Booth." She said, shaking her head. "I don't care what you call yourself… okay? You can call yourself a squint, a lab tech, King Seeley the Almighty Lord of the Lab for all I care… just go out there and do your job." She said with the most serious expression he had ever seen from her.

"Hodgins and Angela think that I'm going to have an ego trip… that I'm going to have issues adjusting to my new role… that I'm going to have problems with you being my boss, and you having a different partner." Booth replied.

"And what do you think?"

"I think they need to keep their traps shut and let me do my job."

"Right." Temperance nodded. "Just go out there, and do your job. You never had a problem with it before." She said, another exasperated sigh as she sat back in her chair.

"Bones?" He asked softly, watching her eyes meet his warily. "Is all of this… too much right now?" He whispered, unsure of exactly how to phrase his question, he was almost positive she didn't know what he was talking about.

"All of what, Booth?" She asked. "You and I together?" She asked, swallowing hard, he saw a bit of fear flash in her eyes.

"Do you want to take a step back?" He asked. "Do you want to re-evaluate things?"

"Booth…" Temperance replied, suddenly distracted by the phone ringing, she held her finger up and rushed out the next sentence. "There are a few things we need to talk about, but now is really not the time, okay?" She said, picking up the phone. "Brennan." He was about to get up and she grabbed his hand, giving him a pleading look indicating she wasn't done with him yet. "Alright… where? We'll be right there." She paused, sending Booth a wicked smile that made him furrow his brow. "Yes, I said we." She said, hanging up the phone, her hand was still on his. "We have a case." She said, reaching across the desk she grabbed his tie. "I hope your day gets better." She said, dropping a kiss on his lips, she watched as he stood up straight and smoothed his tie.

"It already has." He said with a smile, waving her toward the door. She grabbed her bag and walked around the desk, and just like that, his hand was at the small of her back, and they were on their way to a crime scene, the banter just as fresh and easy as it had always been. "How am I going to protect you without a gun?" He asked as they made their way through the lab together.

"I guess you'll finally see how I felt during the first five years of our partnership." She said, raising her eyebrows as he ushered her through the glass sliding doors.

"First five years…" He said with a smile as they walked toward the elevator. "I like the sound of that."


	6. New Tricks

They walked toward the SUV together without another word, and as they approached it, Booth watched as Temperance moved toward the driver's seat without a second thought. "Bones?" He said, calling her from her slight daydream, she looked up and gave him her attention, noting that the keys were in his hand, dangling from his finger. She opened her mouth to fight for her right to drive, and he smiled. "Catch?" He said, noticing her eyes smile back at him, she held her hand out and he tossed the keys in her direction. She caught the keys in the air and immediately unlocked the SUV, climbing into her seat as Booth sat in the passenger seat. She settled into her seat, buckling the seatbelt as she reached across to the GPS.

"So what did I do to earn the honor of driving us?" She asked. "Are you nervous? Did you forget where things were?" She teased.

"Harding called you… you know where we're going." He said with a smile. "Besides… this is your case, not mine."

"This is our case." She said as she began to drive. "I want to make that very clear to you right now, Booth. You and I are still a team… the only difference is that we're partners at the Jeffersonian, we're on the same level now."

"You're my boss, Bones." He laughed, and she wasn't sure if it was bitterness in his voice, or if he was just treading lightly. "It's okay though… it's a good job. It's what I want to do."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, her attention focused on him for a moment, and back to the GPS while she drove. She glanced to him again, noting that he was looking around the SUV a little. "What are you looking for?" She asked.

"Wish this truck had a siren and lights." He said, giving her a sly smile as she shook her head.

"I once thought of having them installed." She nodded seriously, noting that he was watching her. "Even though I wasn't working with the FBI, I thought they would be quite convenient when Antonia began school… it would make it much easier to drop her off and pick her up." She said, a smile rising on her lips as she listened to him chuckle.

"Good one, Bones… that was a good one." He said as she gave him a proud smile that made him laugh a little more.

"Thank you, I thought so." She said proudly, the smile she shared with him warmed his heart as she continued driving toward the crime scene.

* * *

Temperance drove down the bumpy forest road a little too quickly for Booth's taste, but he kept his mouth closed as he rubbed his head again after slamming it into the window. "Bones, you really have to be more careful."

"I am a very good driver, Booth. I just want to get to the crime scene before the evidence is compromised. Christopher has still not proved that he can be trusted to maintain order at a crime scene. We have, after all, only had one case together." She explained. "I am glad that you decided to come with me, however."

"We're a team, Bones." He said with a crooked smile.

"Though you have no weapon to protect me with, I do feel safe with you in the vicinity." She smiled.

"About that…" He said, leaning down, he pulled a metal box from under the seat.

"What is that?" She said, watching him carefully slide the numbers around to a specific combination, he gave her a slight smile as she hit a bump.

"Watch the road, Bones. Don't worry about me."

"What is that?" She asked, watching him open a box, he grinned as he pulled a gun from within the box, and a clip. He gave her a smile, and her jaw dropped. "Booth! You said you don't have a gun!"

"I said I don't own a gun… this isn't my gun." He said, popping the clip into the gun, he checked to ensure that it was set, and tucked it into the holster that he had tucked beneath his jacket.

"You can't just borrow guns, Booth! You can't just put that in the car under the seat! What if Antonia found it?" She exclaimed, as she began to panic.

"Bones, it was in a locked box… besides, it wasn't in the car when Antonia was in the car but for this morning. I had someone drop it off last night."

"Who? Who dropped it off? Booth, you're not cleared to carry a gun! If you get caught with that, you will get in trouble!"

"Stop worrying so much, Bones." He said softly. "It's fine."

"Where did you get it?" She asked sternly, watching him as she saw the lights of the officers up ahead, she slowed the vehicle down and rolled down the window as Booth nodded toward the officer that was standing guard at the blocked area of the road. "Doctor Temperance Brennan with the Jeffersonian." She said, holding her badge up for the officer to see. He nodded toward Booth. "This is…"

"Seeley Booth." He said, holding out his Jeffersonian Identification card. "I'm Doctor Brennan's personal security officer." He said with a toothy grin, that the policeman didn't seem particularly impressed with, but he waved them all through and she glared as she pulled up beside Harding's SUV. He started to open the door and she grabbed his arm, giving him a stare that could have frozen water.

"Where did you get the gun, Booth?"

"Bones… my marksmanship test is this afternoon… I'll pass that, and give the gun back when I am issued my own. I promise that if I don't have to use this one, then I won't."

"You don't need a gun, Booth. Harding has a gun."

"My gun is bigger than Harding's gun." He said with a cocky grin, as he started to climb from the car.

"Booth! Just tell me, please?" She said, her voice sounding desperate. "I want to know what type of person would leave a gun in a locked box in someone's private vehicle. What kind of unsavory people have you associated yourself with?"

"Bones… really…" He chuckled. "Stop worrying about the gun, okay?" He whispered through the SUV at her as she glared across at him. "Let's just say… that… Having a girlfriend whose father is an ex-con... it has its perks." He shrugged with the same grin, slamming the door as he started to walk confidently toward the crime scene, listening to her gasp and rushed steps toward him, as he slowed his pace and waited for her to catch up.


	7. Crisis Averted

Booth felt Temperance brush past him, and he knew that he was in trouble, simply by the way she nearly ran into him without a word or even a glance. He wasn't worried about her temper, he knew that she was aware of why he had done what he had done, and he knew that her father could more than handle her wrath.

He saw Harding as soon as they walked around one of the large FBI vans that was blocking the trail, and he lifted his hand to wave as Temperance stomped her way through the leaves and dirt that had obviously been trampled by FBI agents. "Oh man, you're going to get your ass kicked." Booth muttered as he stepped up behind his friend, holding his fist out, Harding bumped it.

"Why?" He asked curiously as Temperance immediately began to shout orders to the workers around her. She appeared to be quite agitated as she knelt over the remains, and as soon as her eyes zeroed in on Harding, he knew that he was in trouble. "Hurry Booth, tell me what I did wrong before she gets over here." Harding whispered.

"You let your team trample all over your evidence. You're dead meat…" Booth said, stepping to the side as Temperance came stomping in his direction.

"Are you as incompetent as you look, Harding? What are all of these people doing trampling all over my crime scene? You've compromised the evidence! Booth, call Cam… get the mobile lab out here, and Harding… just… tell these idiots that there are free donuts at the end of the road…" She exclaimed, her voice filled with venom. "I don't understand what you were thinking allowing all of these people onto the site, Harding. These remains have not been here for very long, and there could have been particulates or indicators as to how they got here, and you're just allowing your men to traipse around here with no supervision!" She exclaimed, noticing that Booth was chuckling from beside Harding, she turned her attention to him, and glared. "And what are you laughing at, chuckles?"

Booth's eyes widened. "I… was just… I was…"

"You were what? Did you spend all of your time this morning on the phone with Harding coordinating your ties? Or were you too busy conspiring with an ex felon in order to carry a concealed weapon?" She snapped.

"Bones…" he said with a warning tone.

"No… no… don't you 'Bones' me, Booth… Go to the truck, get some evidence bags, call Cam and then come and help me… Harding, tell your team of rabid morons to disband and move down the mountain. We won't need them here." She said as she glared at Booth, sending him on his way.

"Doc, I think that the security will be necessary, especially if this body was a drop off. There could be someone hiding in the woods, there could be…"

"And the only person that would need to be concerned would be me, Harding… and I have my security." She nodded toward the truck. "If you are uncomfortable in the woods with just myself and agent Booth until the lab gets here, then by all means keep some backup, but keep them off of my crime scene." She said, with not a question in her voice. "And it really was cute how you two coordinated your suits… very cute." She said with a sarcastic nod as she walked back toward the remains and started her cursory examination while she listened to Harding do as she had asked.

* * *

Phone calls made, and evidence bags delivered, Booth stood back against the truck as Temperance worked. He knew that she didn't like people standing over her while she worked, so he just kept a close eye on her from a safe distance.

"Is she always like this?" Harding asked, walking up to Booth, he nodded toward Temperance.

"Right?"

"Fastidious."

"Hey, hey… watch it… she's just… she has a process." Booth replied.

Harding laughed. "That means particular, Booth. Is she always this particular?"

"Yes." Booth replied.

"She made fun of my tie… said that we matched." He said, looking down at his tie, and glancing to Booth.

"Yeah? Well… she picked my tie out for me this morning, Ace. She's messing with you, man." He said with a knowing smirk as he pushed off the truck and approached her.

He crouched down beside Temperance and she continued collecting evidence. "Call Cam and ask her where the lab is." She said without looking at him.

"I'm not your gofer, Bones." He said, watching her look up at him with an irritated glare.

"I don't know what that means." She said in a gruff tone.

"Bones, you need to take a break, you look exhausted."

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, and pursed her lips. "I don't need you to tell me when I'm exhausted or not, Booth." She said, lifting up a portion of the clothing on the body, she revealed a bit of skin that was crawling with maggots. "Excuse me." She said, standing up suddenly, she walked quickly toward a stand of trees. He stood up and watched her disappear for a moment and glanced to Harding, who shrugged his shoulders. He walked toward the man and sighed, leaning against the truck again.

"Looks like something got to the doc, huh?"

"Nothing 'gets to' Bones… she probably just… had to go to the bathroom or something."

"She goes to the bathroom in the woods while looking at a crime scene… what is she doing, marking her territory?" Harding laughed, watching Booth laugh as well.

"You're such a smart ass, you know that? She probably was checking for some evidence or something over behind the trees… she sometimes sees things, patterns that others don't, that's probably all it was." Booth explained, watching as Temperance walked from around the trees. She appeared to be composed, and her eyes were scanning the ground. Booth was about to walk over and ask her what she was looking for, when he heard the rumble of the mobile lab coming down the road. "Bones… Cam is here."

She looked up at him and nodded, and brought her focus back to the remains as she knelt before them. He was about to walk over to her when his cell phone rang. He brought it to his ear and sighed, his eyes on Temperance the whole time. "Booth." He said into the phone, his hand moving over his other ear immediately. "I'm sorry, what?" He said, hearing screeching behind the person on the line.

"Mister Booth?" The person exclaimed. "Mister Booth, this is the nurse at Carver Children's Academy." She said.

"My God, is that Antonia?" He asked, watching Temperance's head lift up from the remains immediately. "Is she okay? What happened?" Booth exclaimed, his voice rushed and full of concern, Temperance pulled her gloves off and walked toward him quickly.

"It appears she is very upset about something, and we're not sure what… she's not speaking, just shouting and crying, and nothing seems to calm her down." The nurse sounded frazzled as Booth nodded.

"Put her on the phone, please."

"She's screaming, Sir… I think its just best if you come down and…"

"Put her on the phone now, please!" Booth exclaimed as after a moment, the screaming stopped, and the sound of whimpering came over the line. "Toni, it's daddy…"

"Daddy!" She exclaimed. "Daddy please come save me!" She exclaimed. "Please! Please, Daddy…"

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked in the softest voice possible, he felt Temperance's hand on his arm and she was watching him questioningly.

"I… I can't find deuce, daddy!" She exclaimed. "I can't find him! He was in my bag, and now he's gone! He's missing! He's missing!" She said as she started to cry again.

"Oh, sweet pea… please don't cry…" Booth said softly. "Please don't cry, baby… I'm sure he's somewhere close by…" He said, mouthing 'Deuce' to Temperance, who nodded.

"No, Daddy, he's gone forever! I can't find him…" She sobbed.

"Well mommy and daddy are doing a very important job, baby… we can't come get you right now… besides, you don't know…"

"I want mommy!" She screamed into the line, and Booth handed the phone to Temperance.

"I tried." He said, giving her a desperate look, Temperance took a deep breath.

"Antonia Elyse… stop screaming at me." She said sternly. "Well, shouting isn't going to help you find Deuce, now is it? Daddy is looking in the car right now to see if you forgot him in there." She said, watching as Booth nodded, he walked to the SUV, opened the door and pulled out the familiar gray elephant, waving it in the air. "Ah… there he is… sitting in the car seat…"

"You found him, Mommy?" She whimpered.

"We found him…" Temperance said with an exhausted sigh.

"Can you bring him to me, Mommy?"

"We will bring him to you when Daddy and I come to get you from school, okay?"

"Okay." She sniffled.

"Now I bet you feel pretty silly getting all upset when he was with us all of this time, huh?"

"Uh huh…" She whimpered.

"Now you tell that nice nurse that you're sorry that you had a tantrum… we don't scream like that when we don't get our way, do we?"

"No." She whispered.

"I love you, baby."

"Love you, Mommy."

"Are you having a good time at school… even though you don't have Deuce?"

"Mmm…. Yes." She whispered.

"Good… Mommy and Daddy will see you very soon, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Mommy."

"Bye, baby." Temperance said, rolling her eyes as she flipped the phone closed and stepped back to the SUV, resting her back against it.

"I'm having them bring everything back to the lab." Booth said, pointedly, taking her glare like a professional. "You're getting some rest."

"And you're getting on my nerves." She muttered as she walked past him, tugging on his tie to give him a kiss on the cheek as she walked back toward the remains to direct Cam and the other squints.


	8. Safety First

After several arguments, and several minutes of Temperance ignoring Booth's insistence, she agreed that she was feeling very tired, and that she was in need of some rest before she continued with her day. Cam and the team had begun the retrieval of evidence, and Temperance insisted she remain on the scene until the remains had been packed up and placed in the portable lab, with Booth standing behind her the entire time, silently insisting. She turned around and nearly ran directly into his chest, her eyes lifting to meet his.

"Are you ready to go now?" He asked.

"I was going to ride back to the Jeffersonian with the…"

"No." He shook his head. "Either I take you home for a nap, or Harding drops you off at home for a nap."

"I don't need a nap." She growled at him.

"Bones, you can give me the evil eye all you want… you're going home."

"You forget, I have the keys to the…" She said as she tried to find her keys in her pocket.

"Truck?" He asked, dangling the keys from his finger, he grinned brightly.

"You picked my pocket?" She asked, glaring at him as she reached for the keys, only to have them pulled out of her reach.

"Looks like he's got you there, Doc." Harding said, walking up behind her, making her jump a little from surprise.

"Don't call me Doc." She turned and snapped at Harding, as Booth simply smiled and nodded toward the car, her gaze was once again on him.

"Are you coming with me, or are you going with him?" He asked, giving her a tip of the head that told her that he wasn't going to accept any other answer.

She took a slow, deep breath and rubbed her forehead with her fingers, as the two men exchanged a look. She turned and faced Harding with a hard glare. "You are going to make sure these remains get to the lab safely."

"Of course I am…" He replied, getting that what she had said was not a question but a statement.

"Fine… I'll start… my report tonight."

"Tomorrow." Booth said as he tugged on her arm.

"I'll get some preliminary findings to you as soon as I can." She said, glaring at Booth.

"Which will probably be tomorrow." Booth replied quickly as he took a step toward the truck.

"It's fine, Doc… whenever is fine… I'll document the scene and give you a call if I need anything."

"Tomorrow, you'll call her tomorrow." Booth replied, tugging Temperance's arm again, she turned and walked with him, his arm around her shoulder as he walked with her toward the car.

"You don't have to be so pushy…" She mumbled as he reached out and pulled the door of the truck open for her as she climbed in.

"I learned from the best." He whispered, watching her give him a half smile as she shook her head and tipped her head back, she closed her eyes, and he called to Harding his goodbye. When he climbed into the driver's seat, he realized that Temperance had already drifted to sleep beside him.

* * *

Booth arrived at the apartment and walked quietly upstairs with Temperance, whom he thought would be fighting him every step of the way. "Bones?" He said as they entered the quiet apartment, she turned to face him and he could see that she was feeling miserable. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Booth." She said, nodding definitively, hoping that he'd just drop it, he knew that she wouldn't.

"When you excused yourself at the crime scene…?" He said softly.

"Oh… I was just checking the perimeter… I thought I had seen a rodent, there was evidence of rodent activity, and I thought that it had gone into the woods… it ran off before I could see where it had gone." She replied, before yawning, Booth gave her an unconvinced look. "Why? What did you think I was doing?"

"Nothing, Bones." He said, giving her a nod. "I trust you to tell me the truth." He said, knowing that those words would especially hang on her conscience if she were lying to him, and he had a feeling that she wasn't being entirely honest with him. She walked into the bedroom and pulled her work clothes off slowly, grabbing one of his t-shirts from the drawer as he watched her walk sleepily around the bedroom.

She nodded blankly at him and sighed. "It's nearly one…" She mumbled. "Please wake me up in an hour? I'd like to get to the lab before we go pick up Antonia at three." She said as Booth nodded his head and watched her crawl into the bed. He walked to the bedside and leaned down slowly, kissing her lips softly, she gave him a little smile as she cuddled into the covers. "I love you."

"I love you, Bones." He whispered, watching her eyes flutter closed as he watched her for a moment longer, and then quietly made his way from the bedroom.

* * *

Booth walked into the bedroom quietly at about two thirty. He had allowed her to sleep a half hour longer than she had originally asked him, and from the way she was curled in the bed, her eyes fluttering in a peaceful dream, he knew there was no way that he was going to wake her up. He'd much rather deal with her temper, than pull her from the restful sleep she was obviously getting. So he closed the door to her bedroom slowly, quietly walked into the hallway and pulled the key from the key ring and made his way down toward the truck, ensuring that his cell phone was in his pocket, he prepared himself for the angry phone call that he knew would be coming in his direction if she woke up and found he had let her sleep longer than she had requested.

He drove toward the pre-school and parked easily and made his way into the building, a certain gray elephant in his hands. He turned the corner toward the pre-school room and watched as all of the children gathered their things, other parents had already arrived, and he saw that little brown head of hair, pigtails bobbing happily as she talked to the teacher animatedly. Booth watched as the teacher looked up at him and smiled, she pointed at him, and Antonia turned her head and a beautiful smile lit up her face.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed happily as she ran toward Booth, launching herself into his arms, he lifted her with a bit of a grunt, and her arms moved around his neck, not even noticing her toy in his arms, the teacher approached him and smiled.

"Hi, Mr. Booth." She said with a smile.

"Hi." He said with a polite smile. "I trust that things calmed down after a certain best pal was located?" He said, holding up the elephant, the teacher smiled and laughed as Antonia reached for Deuce and grabbed him from her father's arms.

"Yes… she came back from the nurse's office quite calm after that…" The teacher nodded with a smile. "She's a very bright little girl."

"She takes after her mother there." Booth replied, kissing the little girl on the cheek as he moved her into his arms, she turned and looked at the teacher.

"Well, I hope that tomorrow goes better, what do you think, Antonia?" The teacher asked with a smile.

"It'll be better." She nodded, smiling as Booth said goodbye the teacher and they walked down the hallway toward the car.

"Where's Mama?" Antonia asked as Booth lifted her into her car seat.

"Oh, she's at home… taking a nap." The little girl gasped, her eyes widening. "What?" He asked.

"Is Mama sick?"

"I don't think she is…" Booth said, buckling her into her seat, he watched her lower lip pop into her mouth. "Why?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, shrugging. "Mama doesn't take naps…"

Booth laughed, knowing that those words were probably something that Bones had said, on more than one occasion. "Well, she's pretty sleepy…" He said with a smile. "A certain little girl keeps having bad dreams, and it makes her worried."

"This little girl?" She asked, pointing at herself.

"That very same little girl…" Booth nodded.

"I will tell mommy not to worry no more, then she can sleep better and not take any more naps no more." She blabbered on as her daddy gave her a kiss on her nose. He closed the door and walked to the driver's seat, climbing into his seat he looked back at her.

"We will go home… we'll get that mommy up… and we'll go to the diner so you can tell us all about your first day of preschool, how does that sound?"

"Okay." Antonia replied as she smiled at her daddy in the rear view mirror. "Daddy?"

"Yes, pumpkin?" Booth asked, glancing to her as he started to pull the car from the parking space.

"Why don't you wear your seatbelt?" Booth glanced at her and paused, watching her for a moment with a blank look. "Daddy?"

"I…"

"You should always wear your seatbelt… Mommy says its important." She interrupted, watching him with stern eyes, she wagged her finger in the air at him.

"Your Mommy is a smart lady, isn't she?"

"Yes. She says that if you don't wear your seatbelt and the car crashes, you can die."

"We don't want that to happen, do we?"

"No." Antonia replied seriously.

"You want me to wear my seatbelt?" Booth asked as he watched her nod at him. "It would make you feel better?"

"Yes. Safety first, Daddy."

"Safety first, kiddo." Booth said, giving the little girl a wink as he pulled his seatbelt over his lap and smiled at her giggle, and drove toward the apartment to collect Temperance.


	9. Never Shake a Hornet's Nest

Temperance felt something soft and damp on her cheek, her nose twitching at the sensation as she felt a soft blow of air on her face and another wet drop on her skin, then a sweet, soft voice.

"Mama?" Antonia whispered so tenderly that Temperance wasn't even sure she heard it. Her daughter was rarely quiet, and the primary reason for that was that Temperance never took naps, so there was never a reason for her daughter to be waking her so softly. The little girl was a bubbly powder keg in the morning, and the longer Temperance lay there with her daughter's soft whispers in her ear, the sooner she realized that it wasn't morning, but the afternoon, and her daughter was supposed to be at school. "Mama bones?" Antonia whispered.

Temperance's eyes opened, and were immediately looking directly into a pair of brown, loving eyes. Those eyes smiled as soon as her mother looked into them, and for a moment, she forgot about how completely exhausted she was. "What are you doing home?" She whispered, knowing that if she looked at the clock that it would be well past the time she had requested being woken.

"Daddy got me, silly." Antonia said with a tiny giggle in her voice.

"Daddy got you…" She whispered, not asking but stating that fact. The little girl nodded, and she watched for a moment as the little girl's forehead furrowed in concern. She gave her daughter a tender smile, smoothing those worry lines for a moment as she lifted her head just a bit and looked to the alarm clock on the table next to the bed. When she saw the time, she held in a frustrated sigh as she continued to smile at her daughter. "Did your daddy send you in here to wake me up?" She asked sweetly, receiving a short nod from the little girl. "And what else did your daddy say?"

"He said don't tell mommy that he knows she has a secret." She said, not really understanding that she had given that tidbit of information away.

"He knows mommy has a secret, huh?" She asked softly, watching the nod come again as the little girl smiled. "I don't think daddy realizes how much trouble he's in right now." She said sweetly to the little girl.

"Why is daddy in trouble?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, the concern in her face obvious.

"Because he doesn't listen to mommy… and he's being sneaky…" She whispered.

"Sneaky is bad…"

"It is bad…" She nodded, rolling onto her back, she pulled the giggling little girl with her, resting her head on her chest, and she hugged her to her body.

"I'm not sneaky, mommy."

"Nope. You're a good girl." She whispered. "How was school, baby?"

"Mmm…" She muttered. "Fun." She said, a smile in her voice made Temperance smile. "Daddy said I can have ice cream for supper." She said, looking up at Temperance, she grinned.

"Now I know that he didn't say that…" She said, watching the little girl shrug.

"I tried." She said with a giggle, as Temperance moved her fingers to the little girl's ribcage and tickled tenderly as she squealed in laughter, squirming in her mother's grip as she laughed. She rolled to her side, depositing the little girl onto the mattress next to her and noticed that she was out of her school clothes and in a pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt.

"It looks like daddy got you all ready for dinner, huh?"

"Yes… he let me pick out my shoes…" She said, showing her mother the two un-matching shoes on her daughter's feet. Temperance's brow furrowed as she gave her daughter a tender smile and shook her head.

* * *

Booth waited patiently in the hallway as he listened to the two girls in the bedroom talk, a squeal of a giggle from his little girl was quickly followed by the sound of two little feet running in his direction. The door swung open and Antonia rounded the corner as she skidded to a stop in front of Booth. "Mommy wants to talk to you… she said I have to go into my room so that I don't hear her yell." Antonia said as she ran quickly down the hallway and swung into her bedroom, closing the door solidly behind her.

Booth swallowed hard, knowing that what was coming to him was probably not going to be a positive experience, but knowing that in the end, he was right. He just needed a way of getting her to realize that without telling her directly.

So he took a deep breath, and opened the bedroom door slowly, finding that Temperance had climbed from the bed and was searching for something in her drawer. "Hey." He said with a smile, trying to take things slowly as he gave a halfhearted wave that she brushed off as she walked past him.

"Hey." She said, moving onto another drawer, she pawed through it quickly and sighed.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing." She replied as she walked to the closet.

"Bones?"

"I don't know who you think you are, Seeley Booth." She said, opening the door she pulled down a box from the shelf and started to move her hands around in it, lifting things out and placing them back in, she set the box on the floor and pulled another box from within her closet toward her.

"Bones… come on, talk to me… what are you looking for?"

"It's none of your business what I'm looking for." She grumbled back at him. "You… just… you frustrate me! I went home in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the work day to rest… just rest! Do you understand that I have a job?" She asked, standing up, she stared at his chest before she glared into his eyes. "I have a very, very important job that I need to do, and you are impeding it!"

"I am not impeding! I'm helping! You were exhausted!" Booth exclaimed.

"I was tired… okay? I was a little tired, and…"

"And your judgment could have been impaired, Bones."

"My judgment is never impaired." She glared at him as she knelt back down at the box and began moving its contents around, she sighed and grunted, closing the top of it, she kicked the box into the closet and reached up for another box.

"Bones, what are you…?"

"And what did you do all day? You have a job too! You should have stayed with the mobile lab! You're not my bodyguard, Booth! You're a glorified security guard!" She exclaimed as he grabbed her hand suddenly, wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her against his chest. The close proximity of her body to his made her shiver.

"Don't go there, Bones." He whispered in her ear.

"Get off me!" She exclaimed, pulling away from his arms, she almost tripped over the box, and recovered quickly, her finger pointing at his chest as he took a step back, though from the look in the eye, he was prepared to fight. "And where do you get off telling my daughter that I have secrets? Huh? Who do you think you are making her think that I am sneaky and… and…dishonest! You're the one that was sneaking around my house for…"

"Bones!" He exclaimed, reaching out, he grabbed her shoulders and stopped her mid sentence. He didn't hold her hard, or shake, just looked her directly in the eyes as she scowled angrily at him. "Stop." He said simply, his voice was calm, though his eyes were full of anger and hurt. "Stop just saying things, stop, okay?"

She stared at him angrily for another moment, a million things popping into her mind in those moments, she could feel her blood boiling. "Did you take your marksmanship test?" She asked, watching him tilt his head and give her a look that begged her to stop, but she kept going. "Why am I not surprised?" She exclaimed, raising her hand as she pulled away from his hands, she turned and stalked toward the hallway, storming down the hallway, she could hear his heavy footsteps behind her. "Stop!" She exclaimed as he nearly ran into her, he stopped in front of her and she poked his chest with her finger. "Stop following me." She growled.

"Stop walking away from me." He said. "What is your problem, Bones?" He asked, his anger starting to show, but he held it steady.

"You! You're my problem! What do you even do around here?" She exclaimed, pulling the hall closet open, she started pushing things around until she found a shoebox, and opened the lid. She moved a couple of things around and grabbed something into her hand. She turned around sharply and stepped toward him, even though he was practically touching her already, her nose moved within inches of his. "You complain that you don't like your job! You insist I come home in the middle of the afternoon, you let me sleep through important things! We have a case, Booth! There is a murderer out there, and you want me to just sleep? You don't go to your appointments! You borrow guns from felons! You… you… you use my daughter to soften me up so that I won't shout at you!"

"Our!" He exclaimed finally. "Our daughter! She is our daughter, Bones! And it obviously didn't work!"

"Whatever!" She shouted back at him, putting her hands on his chest, she wanted to push him away, she wanted to scream at him more, but found that instead of strength, all she had were tears. She gritted her teeth and tried to hold back the sobs that were threatening to escape, and she took a deep breath.

"Bones, please?" He said softly, feeling the resistance in her arms, the object in her hand digging into his skin, he tugged her a little more. "Please, Bones…let me hold you."

"I don't want…" She sniffled. "I don't want you to hold me."

"Yes you do." He whispered.

"No." She said, resisting for a second more before allowing him to pull her into his arms.

"That's my girl…" He whispered into her hair as she began to cry. "What's going on with you? You're going to have to tell me…" He said into her as he gripped her tightly and kissed her head again and again, her tears slowly stopping.

"I'm just… I don't know." She whispered as he rocked her back and forth tenderly as she breathed deeply a few times and tried to compose herself against him, eventually allowing her tears come to a stop, she just let him hold her for a moment longer. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you." He said softly, kissing her head again, she looked up into his eyes. "I changed my appointment for my marksmanship test to tomorrow morning… I'll drop Toni and you off in the morning, and you can check out your victim while I go take my test."

She sniffled and nodded, lifting one hand to rub her eye a little. "Okay."

"We'll go to the diner for dinner? I know a certain little girl who wants to tell us all about her first day in preschool."

She nodded and gave him a half smile.

"So go get dressed… we'll get going… lazy bones." He said, leaning down to kiss her lips, he noticed her fingers were drumming whatever was in her other hand. "What's that?" He whispered.

She took a step back and took a deep breath as she reached for his hand. He watched as her fingertips carefully pulled his palm and slowly she placed her other hand on top of it, covering the object. His brow furrowed as he watched the corner of her lip twitch upwards, and her eyes took on an immediate mischievous glint. "I just wanted to give you something that you hadn't seen in a while." She said narrowing her eyes as that glint turned from mischievous to challenging. "I figured that you earned it today." She said, lifting her hand and turning toward her bedroom in one move, she stomped toward her bedroom with a grin on her face as she listened to his chuckle, then laugh as he held up the familiar belt buckle in his hands.

"Funny, Bones… really funny!" He exclaimed, reveling in her own laugh as she disappeared around the corner into her bedroom.


	10. French Fried Logic

Temperance dressed and walked from her bedroom a bit rested, and more composed than when she had entered the bedroom. She walked down the hallway when she heard Booth's voice, and realized that he was on the phone. She listened to the tone of his voice and realized that he was speaking in a professional tone to someone, and was just ending the conversation. With a 'Thank you, Sir. I will be there first thing in the morning.' He hung up the phone and stood staring at the wall for a second in thought.

"Hey." She said, pulling him immediately from his day dream, he turned his head and gave her a beautiful smile that she couldn't resist giving back.

"Hey." He said back.

"Who was that?" She asked, nodding toward the phone in his hand, he raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"It was just something about my test tomorrow…" He said quickly, giving her a quick smile, he turned his head toward the hallway. "Are you all ready to go? Is Toni ready to go?" He asked, nodding down the hallway. "Toni?"

"Yeah, Daddy?" Antonia said, pulling her door open. "Are you done getting yelled at?" She asked, a grin that matched her mother's shot in his direction.

"Yeah, I'm done getting yelled at… grab Deuce, and let's vamoose!" He exclaimed as the little girl disappeared into her room. He glanced to Temperance, who looked perplexed. "She'll catch up with us…" He said, putting his arm around her shoulder, she snuggled into him and felt him kiss her head. "I'm sorry that I didn't wake you up when you asked." He said softly.

"It's fine." She nodded against him, "I'm sorry that I was mean and shouted at you." She whispered as the pounding of little feet came toward them, crashing into the middle of them, forcing them each to take a step to the side.

"My daddy!" She said, grabbing Booth's hand as she grinned, pushing Temperance a bit as Booth let out a chuckle.

"Alright… let's get the show on the road." He said, opening the door, he looked at Temperance's questioning look and he dropped a peck on her lips before ushering his two ladies out the door.

* * *

Climbing into the car, Temperance made sure that Antonia was buckled in securely, and turned just as Booth pulled his seatbelt across his chest and lap and buckled it securely as he shoved the key into the ignition. As he turned the key, he noticed that Temperance was staring at him. "What's wrong?" He asked, unsure of why she was watching him.

"Nothing." She whispered, her eyes moving to the seatbelt, he gave her a knowing smile and shook his head, offering no explanation for his sudden need for safety in the car.

Not one for leaving any topic untouched upon, the exclamation from the back seat was enough to make Booth's cheeks turn red. "Mommy… daddy is wearing his seatbelt, because I told him what you said about car crashes."

"Really?" Temperance asked, looking to the back seat, Booth shook his head and turned the car on, pulling the car from its space.

"Uh huh… I told him what you told me, and he said you were very smart and put his seatbelt on like a good boy."

"Interesting…" Temperance said, raising her eyebrows at Booth, who avoided eye contact and shook his head. "So… when I tell you the perils of driving without a seatbelt, you shake your head and call me a traffic safety wonk… and that I should worry about myself, and not you… but when your daughter asks you to wear your seatbelt…"

"I never, ever used the term 'wonk'." He replied with a definitive nod.

"I believe the term that you used was 'nazi'… which in itself is both blatantly racist and inappropriate under the circumstances that you used it."

"She asked nicely." Booth replied.

"I think that she has you wrapped around her little toe…" She replied, listening to the light chuckle come from the man driving as he shook his head.

"Little finger, Bones… she has me wrapped around her little…" He watched her grin widen as he started to laugh. "You tricked me!"

"I didn't trick you!" She exclaimed, a full out giggle escaping her lips as Antonia watched the two of them bicker back and forth.

"Mommy…?"

"Yes, sweet pea?" Temperance asked, glancing back at the little girl.

"I like it when you and daddy fight like this… its funnier…" She said with a giggle as Booth nodded to the little girl in agreement.

"I agree, little one…" He said with a smile, as they continued their drive to the diner.

* * *

They arrived at the diner, and sat at the same table they had been sitting at since it had only been Booth and Temperance's table, the small girl insisting on sitting beside her daddy as she stole French fries from his plate and laughed when her mother did the same.

"You do realize that you guys have fries on your plate, don't you?" He asked, watching Temperance munch on the last fry she stole, a half smile on her lips.

"Yours taste so much better, daddy." Antonia giggled as he pretended he was going to smack her hand as she reached across and quickly snatched one from under his watchful eye.

"You are so mean to me, so mean!" Booth exclaimed as he pulled the little girl into his lap, laughing as she giggled loudly and sighed as he attacked her with kisses, tickling her as she laughed and pushed at him. She sighed as he lifted his head up, her grin was enough to make his heart beat faster as he pulled her into a seated position.

"If you two are finished playing around…" Temperance said in a stern voice, though it was quite obvious that she was just playing the 'mother' role, and was quite amused at their antics. "Someone still has half of a cheeseburger there to finish."

"I'm full." She said, rubbing her belly.

"You're full?" Temperance asked.

"Yes, I saved this much room for pie." She said, holding her hands about a foot apart, she watched her mother shake her head, and her eyes flickered to the opening door, and the little girl's smile fell from her face.

"What's wrong, baby?" Temperance asked, immediately noting the change in demeanor, she turned her head to see Christopher Harding walking in with Rebecca, and Parker in front of them talking. When she turned her head again, Antonia was sliding down in her father's arms. "Antonia, sit up."

"Dad!" Parker exclaimed, seeing his father as he noticed what Temperance was looking at, he smiled brightly.

"Hey bub!" He exclaimed, as Antonia slipped from his grip and under the table. Parker ran over and hugged his father as Parker pulled away, he smiled. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked with a smile.

"We're having dinner." He smiled. "Hey, Bones." He said, moving over to Temperance, he gave her a welcoming hug, which she accepted and he looked up as Harding walked to the table.

"Hey Doc, you're looking well rested." Harding said with a smile.

"Don't call Mommy Doc!" Antonia exclaimed from under the table.

"Hey there, Antonia." He said, looking under the table, the little girl sneered at him.

"Go away, Ace!" She shouted. "Go away, Parker! Go away all of you!" She exclaimed.

"Toni, that's enough…" Booth said, a little embarrassed at her behavior, he sighed.

"Not any better, huh?" Rebecca asked, watching Temperance rub her forehead and shake her head.

"Antonia, come out from under the table." Temperance said as she sighed.

"Not till they leave!" She exclaimed, grabbing Booth's leg, she wrapped her arms around it.

"Toni, that's enough." Booth said sternly.

"Hi, Antonia." Parker said with a smile, looking at the little girl under the table.

"Shut up!" She shouted as suddenly, Booth pulled his chair out.

"Daddy!" She squeaked, almost pinched by the chair, she was dragged with his leg, until he reached down and pulled her arms from around his leg, as she tried to hold tighter, he lifted her into his arms and she clung to him, with her head buried in his chest.

"I have had quite enough of this." Booth boomed. He turned to Rebecca and Harding, and patted his son's head with a 'thank you' mouthed for being nice to Antonia. "Why don't you guys sit down… visit with Bones a bit here… and I am going to do a little attitude adjusting for our little friend here." He said as Booth stalked away from the table with Antonia holding him tightly, he glanced back to see Rebecca sit beside Temperance, and Harding and Parker sit across from them as the waitress walked over to take their dinner order.

He walked across the diner, finding a table in the corner where no one was sitting nearby, and he started to pull the little girl's fingers from his skin. "Antonia, you're hurting me." He said, knowing that her grip would loosen immediately, and it did. She whined as she tried to hold onto his shirt, and he pulled her from him carefully, dropping her unceremoniously into the booth seat, she reached across the table at him, trying to scramble toward him. "Stop it." He said, poking her nose as she whined and pouted. "Toni, that's enough." He said, his voice was low and serious.

"I want mama…" She whined.

"Mama isn't going to save you this time, young lady, stay right there." He said as he glanced to the counter. "I'm serious, Toni, if you move, you're in big trouble." He said as he walked to the counter, the little girl's fit stopped as she sat back in the seat and started to slide down as Booth talked to the woman behind the counter. When he turned around, he sat across from her and smacked his hand down on the table. "Sit up!" He exclaimed, making her jump, she sat up immediately, her eyes wide with concern as she looked across at her father. Her lip started to tremble and he shook his head. "Don't you dare." He said, pointing his finger at him as it trembled a little more, and her eyes started filling with tears. "Antonia, I am serious…" He said, as she seemed to visually calm down, sniffling and wiping her eye with the back of her hand. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't like them." She said in a small voice, her hand rubbing her eye, he reached across and pulled her hand down and placed his hand atop her tiny hand.

"Why not?" He asked, leaning over the table a little, she pulled her hand out and wiggled her fingers over his larger hand, dancing her fingertips across his skin, she shrugged.

"Because I am your little tiny baby girl… and you are my daddy, and I do not want to share you with nobody, not even mommy." She mumbled, looking sincerely into his eyes.

* * *

_Booth had been out of jail, and out in the 'open' for a little over two weeks, slowly he was finding his place in town, and had settled peacefully at Temperance's apartment, since it had been his old apartment. He found that her style and his style had naturally blended into a series of ancient relics and nostalgic knick knacks, and though to the casual observer it seemed that they had nothing in common, they had in fact, fallen very easily into a domestic routine. He had his chances of seeing Parker a few times, though it was never with Antonia or Bones, and because was basically trying to slide back into a role that he was familiar with, he wanted things between he and his son to be back to the way they were before. He wanted his family together._

_The plan had been set, and Parker was going to visit that afternoon, and Booth was determined to tell him and Antonia that they were, in fact, siblings. Temperance hadn't agreed with the plan, knowing that there was a very good chance that Antonia wouldn't take it well, so Booth insisted that she just leave him alone with the two kids, he was sure he could handle it. A long discussion had followed, but in the end, Booth was triumphant and when there was a knock at the apartment door at just about four in the afternoon, he walked to the door and grinned at the boy as he grinned back._

_"There's my boy!" Booth exclaimed, grabbing the boy in a rough hug as Parker laughed and hugged his father, dropping his bag by the door as Booth squeezed him playfully and looked to Rebecca. "Thanks Beck." He said, watching her nod._

_"It's no problem, Seeley." She said with a soft smile. "It is just… it's so weird to see you again." She said as Booth ruffled his son's hair and let him come into the apartment, grabbing his bag as he made his way toward the couch. "Today is the big day, huh?"_

_"Yeah." He nodded. "You don't mind, do you?"_

_"No… no…" She shrugged. "He's going to find out one way or another." She laughed._

_"Very true."_

_"Find out what?" Parker asked, looking up, he caught his dad's eye and smiled._

_Suddenly, a door in the apartment slammed, and little feet came pounding down the hallway. "Daddy? Daddy? I need you to do something for me." Antonia tiptoed into the room with a pink ballerina tutu, and a tiara, with green stockings, with one blue shoe, and one white shoe._

_"Do you need me to color coordinate you?" Booth asked as the little girl looked at him with a scrutinizing glare._

_She suddenly realized that there were people other than Booth in the room, and she jumped._

_"Daddy?" Parker asked, looking at his father._

_"Parker?" She asked with a smile. "Hi Parker… this is my daddy." She said, grabbing Booth's hand as she grinned._

_Booth paused for a moment._

_"Daddy, that's my friend from the plane, remember? Why is he here?" She asked curiously, holding his hand as she hid slightly from Rebecca._

_"Do you need help?" Rebecca asked, watching the look on the faces of all three of them. Booth was curious, Parker was confused, and Antonia was perplexed._

_"I got it." Booth nodded, swallowing hard as he watched Rebecca back out of the door and wave to Parker, before disappearing into the hallway._

* * *

"Do you remember that day that Parker came over?" Booth asked, watching the little girl's hands clasp together as she stared down at them. "Antonia? Do you remember?"

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"What did daddy tell you?"

"You said I gotta share cuz Parker is my brother."

"I said something like that, yes."

"I don't want to share. I'm not going to share. I don't want Parker to be my brother. I want to be your tiny baby girl." She mumbled.

"You are my tiny baby girl." Booth replied with a sigh. He looked up as the waitress handed over a basket of fries, to which Booth nodded in thanks. Antonia reached for the basket, and Booth pulled them away from her, her jaw dropped as she let out an indignant grunt.

"Daddy!"

"Patience… little one, I want to show you something first." He said directly at her pout as she let out the most pitiful sigh he had ever seen. He shook his head and pulled out a napkin, lying it across the table carefully, he did the same thing with a second napkin.

He took out French fries and began to lay them on the table in a line, one next to the other. She watched as he did it with another line of French fries, a little shorter, then another one, a little shorter. "Alright… we'll start with the small one… you see that… four fries…"

"Uh huh." She nodded, quiet as she listened to her father's confusing experiment. "That is how long I've known you for…"

"No… I am three…" She corrected.

"Right…" He said, taking one of the fries, he popped it into his mouth. "Count those for me." He said, knowing full well that his daughter was very good with numbers, despite her young age. "One, two… three French fries." She said triumphantly. Right… see that… three years…" He said, watching her nod. "How many are in this group?"

"Um…" She said, pointing to each one, she counted in her head and looked up at Booth. "Nine."

"Right… nine… that's how long I've known your mommy for… nine years… give or take… that's a lot of French fries, huh?"

"Yeah." She nodded, watching Booth carefully. "That one is a lot of French fries… that must be for PopPop…" She said, pointing to the longer line.

"PopPop? Why would he have a lot?"

"Cuz he's old. He has white hair and wrinkles…"

"Right… but nope… how many are in this line?" he said, watching her point at each one, moving her lips to the next number.

"Eleven." She said, watching him nod.

"That's right… eleven… do you know whose line that is?"

"PopPop?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Mmm… Oompa?"

"Wrong again…"

"I dunno." She shrugged.

"That's Parker's line of French fries." He said, watching her eyes widen.

"No!" She exclaimed.

"That's right… I've known Parker for eleven French fries!" He exclaimed. "Eleven of them!"

"That's more than mommy!" She exclaimed, pointing to the row of nine.

"That's more than mommy…" He shook his head.

"So Parker wins…" She exclaimed, looking over to the other table, where everyone suddenly pretended they weren't watching the two of them.

"No." He said, shaking his head. "Parker doesn't win."

"Yes he does, daddy… he had the most French fries…"

"Yes…" Booth nodded. "He does… he has the most French fries… but do you know what?"

"Hm?"

"I love all of these French fries the same." He shrugged. "I just love French fries…" he shrugged.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means that it doesn't matter if I have eleven French fries, or three French fries… I love them all the same." He said, watching her look at the table full of food.

"But if you eat the lots of fries first, you could get full?"

"I never get full." He said, watching the little girl's grin lift to a sideways smile, the same one that her mother would get when she would finally 'get' a joke. "There is always room in my tummy for more French fries, baby girl."

"Cept when mommy and me steal them, huh?"

"You guys are sneaky…" he said with a playful glare that she grinned at.

"We're not sneaky, daddy… mommy says you don't need to eat so many French fries they're bad for your heart."

"Mommy speaks that mumbo jumbo, and you just take it all in, don't you… you're like a tiny little sponge."

"I don't know what that means." She said with a giggle.

"It doesn't matter." He chuckled. "Parker is your brother, and he's a really nice boy… he was nice to you on the plane, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

"And he said hi to you, even though you were being naughty, hiding under the table... you told him to shut up? Little girls do not tell people to shut up, do they?"

"No…"

"So he's nice… and he's patient… don't you want to give him a chance?"

"I dunno." She shrugged, watching Booth's face fall as he watched her eyes stare at the table for a minute. "Daddy?" She asked, swallowing a little hard as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"What?"

"Do you think Parker likes French fries too?" She asked, eying the basket of remaining fries on the table.

"I don't know." He said, feigning that he really didn't know. "You can go ask him if you want." He said, watching her glance over to the table, where Parker was watching them, he turned his gaze back to the rest of the people at their table as Antonia reached across and grabbed the basket of fries. She scooted toward the edge of the booth and glanced to her father as he gave her a nod of approval. She shimmied off the seat and walked quickly to the table, setting the basket of fries on the edge of the table, she smiled at Parker.

"Hi Parker." She said, pushing the basket toward him. "Wanna French fry?" She asked sweetly as Parker smiled back at her and glanced at Booth, taking the peace offering with a smile.

"Sure, Ant… thanks." He said, reaching into the basket, he took a fry and munched on it as he smiled at the little girl, watching her take a fry too.

Booth watched the exchange for a moment, before he realized that Temperance's eyes were on him. He could see the gratefulness in her eyes, the soft smile on her lips as she looked back at the two children, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say she was getting a bit emotional over the entire situation. He took a deep breath, sighed, and walked over to the table, lifting the little girl up with a laughing squeal, he took a chair from the next table and pulled it to the end of the table, depositing the little girl on his lap, as the waitress came with the new guest's food, and Booth proceeded to order his and, Temperance and Antonia's dessert.


	11. Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

When they made it home from the diner, Antonia was sleeping soundly in her car seat, and Temperance wasn't far behind. Her head bobbed lightly against the head rest and she turned her eyes to Booth as she smiled sleepily at him. "Hey." He said softly, watching her tip her head forward, her hand moving to her mouth as she yawned into it.

"Hey." She said sleepily. "Why am I so tired?" She said, sighing as she turned her head, looking out the window for a moment as she reached her hand down and unbuckled the seatbelt, her gaze moved to Booth, who leaned over and dropped a kiss on her nose.

Booth said nothing as he ran his finger across her temple and kissed her lips tenderly. "I love you." He whispered. "Why don't you go ahead, get into the apartment… get ready for bed, and I'll get sleeping beauty and carry her upstairs and tuck her in."

"I don't know if I want to go to bed just yet." She said, watching him tip his head in concern. She gave him a sweet smile and shook her head. "I just mean… because I had that nap earlier, and if I go to bed now, I may not sleep through the night. It's only a little after eight." She yawned again, and Booth smiled at her as she climbed from the car. "I think I'll just get a nice big glass of wine and sit on the couch with a book or something." She said as she closed the door and started walking toward the stairs.

Booth watched after her for a moment, surprised by her last words, he quickly climbed from his seat and opened the back door, carefully unfastening the sleeping little girl, he pulled her into his arms watching to ensure she didn't hit her head as he tucked her on his shoulder, closed the door and hurried toward the apartment, the car locking behind him as he pressed the keyless entry button. He hurried as he climbed the steps of the apartment, surprised that he ended up right behind Temperance as she stepped into the apartment slowly. "What's the hurry?" She asked as he moved past her, and smiled.

"Go get changed…settle on the couch, and I'll settle Toni into bed, and then join you… I'll get the drinks." He said as she gave him a confused look. "What? I can't do something nice for you?" He asked with a playful grin. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, taking a lazy deep breath against his skin. He turned toward Antonia's bedroom and she turned toward her bedroom.

She walked into her room and slowly shed her clothing, feeling the dull aches in her muscles and the sleepiness that she had been fighting all day long, her mind was drifting back to the case. She pulled a pair of sweatpants from her drawer, pulling them on quickly as she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out one of the t-shirts that he had slipped past her guard and kept in her bedroom, even though the move in wasn't official. She tugged it over her head and walked into the bathroom to wash her face, listening to the low sound of Booth's voice in the next room, she closed her eyes and smiled a little. It was as if he had always been there, and she'd smile a little brighter knowing that he had.

It had been a little over three months that he had been back, but sometimes she just found herself reveling in the fact that he was alive, closing her eyes and simply appreciating his presence. She never told him that she would do it, though sometimes when he was talking, he'd catch her with that faraway look on her face, dropping a kiss on her cheek, he'd rouse her from the daydream, and her cheeks would instantly burn with embarrassment, and he'd tease her for a moment or two before continuing his conversation.

There were just little things about him, that she'd find herself thinking about, and when she looked back up from washing her face, she found that she was smiling, the sound of Antonia's voice sleepy and soft joining that of Booth's in the bedroom. She wiped the water from her face, and turned from the bathroom, slowly making her way to the bedside table where she grabbed the book she was currently reading and trailed slowly through the bedroom to the door. She walked out into the living room and made her way to the couch, tumbling herself onto its cushions, she just cracked the book when he appeared around the corner of the hallway.

"Snug as a bug in a rug." He said, watching her brow furrow as he smiled. "It's a saying, Bones." He said, watching the confusion clear, he could see that she wanted to ask, but he continued toward the kitchen. "I'll be right back with our drinks." He said with a smile.

When he walked back into the living room, he wasn't carrying two glasses of wine, however, but two mugs of steaming tea, and she opened her mouth to protest. "The wine didn't smell right." He said as she gave him an unconvinced look.

"I just opened that bottle a day or two ago." She said, watching his eyebrows rise as he handed her the tea.

"Tea is better for before bed… its herbal, so no caffeine, and it has a nice minty scent, take care of that bad breath." He teased.

"I do not have halitosis, Booth." She said, taking the tea, she sighed as she brought it to her lips and let the warmth of the steam warm her face.

"Whatever you say, Bones." He said with a smile, as he settled on the couch, grabbing his own book from the table beside the couch, he tugged the blanket from the back of the couch, and covered their feet as he settled across from her, watching a soft smile tugging at her lips as he caught her gaze for a moment, before they both returned back to their reading.

* * *

Temperance thought that she would be the first to fall asleep over her book as they lie comfortably on the couch, but sure enough, Booth was the first to drift off, his head against the back of the couch, his book crushed against his chest with his finger lingering on the last page read. She watched him for a few minutes, his eyes fluttering in an obvious dream, and couldn't help but wonder how often he had nightmares, for his sleep patterns since he had returned were very odd, and she often wondered what woke him from his short slumbers.

She pulled her legs from the couch slowly, careful not to wake him as she stood and lifted the two mugs from the table in front of her. She let her eyes remain on Booth for a moment as she passed him, his breathing regulated and slow as she walked to the kitchen and placed the mugs in the sink. She was rinsing them out when she heard the slapping of two tiny feet against the tile floor.

Temperance turned around and was greeted with a tiny pouty face. "Mama?" Antonia whispered.

"What are you doing up?" She asked tenderly, she watched the little girl rub her eye with her fist. "Did you have a bad dream?" She asked, wiping her hands off with the hand towel, she placed it next to the sink and reached down to lift the nodding girl into her arms, her head was instantly tucked onto her shoulder. "What was it about?" She whispered to the little girl. "Do you remember?"

"No." She whispered into her mother's neck as she carried her into her bedroom and settled on the rocking chair across from her daughter's bed, cradling the little girl in her arms.

"You don't remember?" She asked again, watching the little girl shake her head. "It's okay…" She whispered. "Bad dreams come and go… but we just remember that they're just a dream… right?" Temperance asked, watching the little girl nod sleepily against her mother, her eyes drooping sleepily. "Mommy used to have bad dreams all of the time… and sometimes she still does… dreams… they're just a manifestation of our fears, our worries, our thoughts and desires. So when we have a bad one, it's just our silly minds playing tricks on us."

"Sneaky bad dreams." Antonia mumbled sleepily as Temperance rocked her, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"That's right… sneaky bad dreams." Temperance whispered, rocking the little girl back and forth.

"Mama, will you sing my lullaby?"

"Of course I can sing you your lullaby… did I ever tell you who taught me that lullaby?" She asked, watching the little girl's eyes meet hers. "Your daddy taught me that lullaby… he was putting his little boy to bed, and I could hear his voice, whispering through the hallway."

"Parker." Antonia whispered.

"Yep… Parker."

"Parker is a nice boy." Antonia replied.

"He is… and I think… that he'll make a great big brother…" She said, giving her little girl a bit of a tickle, she buried her face in her mother's chest and giggled slightly, letting the little girl settle in her arms, Temperance began to hum a familiar tune. After a few moments, her hum turned into the words of the lullaby, slipping across the nighttime air peacefully as she rocked in the rocking chair. It didn't take long before the little girl was asleep, and Temperance could feel her own eyelids becoming heavy. She was starting to fall asleep when she felt a pair of strong hands pulling the bundle from her arms, and she nearly moved to hold her tighter, when she heard Booth's voice calming her worries, her eyes opened to see him lifting the little girl to her bed, tucking her in gently, he kissed her forehead. "I could have done that." Temperance whispered.

"You could have… but I'm selfish… so I wanted to do it." He teased her, watching a smile lift on her lips. "You're next… want me to carry you to our bed?" He asked, holding his hand out to her, she gave him a wry smile.

"Only if you want to lose a tooth." She teased, putting her hand in his, he pulled her up from the rocking chair and directly into his arms.

"I think it's worth the risk, honestly." He whispered, kissing the top of her head, holding her close. "Let's get you to your room…"

"Our room." She whispered, stepping forward with his arms still around her, she playfully led him from their daughter's bedroom and toward their bedroom, and sweet dreams.


	12. Don't Quit Your Day Job

The next morning ran as smoothly as could be expected. Booth dropped Antonia off at school, and pulled into the parking area of the Jeffersonian to drop Temperance off at the door, she turned and leaned in for a kiss. He made a pleased sound against her lips, and she deepened it slightly, as he reached his hand up and brushed her cheek lightly with his hand, still holding it when they separated. "See, that is so much nicer without an audience." He said as a smile rose on his lips. She smiled back, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks as she watched his eyes carefully.

"I have to…" She said, referring to the door, she nodded toward it as her hand touched the handle.

"Go on, go play with your bones…" He said, holding her hand for a second longer as she pushed her way out of the car and onto the ground, turning around, she reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I'll be back when I'm finished."

"Good luck." She said, reaching across the car, she grabbed his tie and tugged it a little, needing no more invitation, he leaned across and kissed her tenderly again.

"Thanks, Bones." He said, watching her as she turned and walked toward the elevator, refusing to drive away until she looked back at him, and disappeared into the elevator.

* * *

She stepped into the lab and immediately noted that all of the techs were abuzz with activity running here and there gathering evidence and particulates for Hodgins, and interns were trying their best to look busy while some worked with Cam and the flesh on the body, and others waited patiently for their turn to remove the flesh from the bones.

"Do we have anything?" She asked, stepping past the platform, Hodgins walked to the edge and smiled.

"Hey, Doctor B… nothing yet."

"Keep working, I'll be up in just a moment." She said, stepping to her office quickly. She was just sitting down when her phone rang, and she lifted up the receiver quickly. "Brennan." She said into the line, turning on her computer, she typed in her password as she listened to the man on the other line. "Its fine, Harding… We'll let you know if we find anything." She said, not waiting for a response, she hung the phone up and continued working quietly.

She worked for a little while on organizing some of the things she hadn't completed the day before, when she saw a shadow in her doorway. "Hey, Ange."

"Hey, Sweetie…" Angela said, depositing herself hard on the couch, she watched Temperance work for a moment. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, why?" She said, looking up at Angela, she gave her a confused expression.

"I don't know… you didn't come back to work yesterday, and your phone was turned off."

"You can thank Booth for that." She said, glancing up at Angela. "He seems to think there's something wrong with me. I've tried to explain to that it is Antonia's bad dreams. She wakes up, and I just can't get back to sleep."

"I bet it was nice to sleep the afternoon away though." Angela said with a sly grin, watching Temperance smile just a bit her eyes lifting to her friend.

"It was very refreshing." She replied, answering truthfully, she looked up at Angela and smiled. "Have you picked out wallpaper for the baby's bedroom?"

"We haven't made a decision… Hodgins still wants to know the sex of the baby… I want to be surprised." She said, shrugging her shoulders, her hand rested on her belly as she spoke.

"Surprises are nice." Temperance said, leaning against the desk for a moment, watching her friend for a moment. "I wanted Antonia's sex to be a surprise, but I could read the sonogram fairly easily, so it wasn't much of a surprise at all."

"Well… maybe I'll let him look at the sonogram, and make him decorate the baby's room by himself…" Angela said with a laugh, watching Temperance's eyes widen as she shook her head, and both women began to laugh. "That's not going to happen!"

* * *

The morning turned quickly into afternoon, and Temperance was starting to get a little nervous that something had happened with Booth. She hadn't heard anything from him since he had dropped her off, and she knew that his test was at nine that morning. The clock bordered on one in the afternoon, when Harding walked into the lab and toward the platform. He took one step on the stairs when one of the security guards stopped him.

"Whoa… this is my investigation." He said, referring to the platform, Temperance looked up from the table.

"And this is my forensics platform. What did you want, Harding? We didn't call you."

"Yeah, well, I'm getting sick of sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs." He shrugged, watching Temperance glare from the table.

"Patience is a virtue."

"Thanks for that." He said, taking a step up onto the first step, the security guard eyed him as Harding glared in his direction for a second. "So what did we find?"

"Looks like a body to me." A voice from behind Harding said, swiping a card, Booth stepped up the stairs quickly and grinned as he walked around the table. "What do we got, Bones?" He asked, watching her glance up at him.

"Where were you all morning?" She asked, continuing her examination.

"My test, I told you." He said. "I passed, by the way… thanks for asking."

"You were gone a lot longer than it takes to take a marksmanship test."

"Hello, I'm still here." Harding said with an irritated scowl. "Why does he get to go up there, and I have to stay down here. This is my investigation." Harding complained.

"He works for the Jeffersonian, Agent Harding."

"That's a joke… he doesn't work for anyone. He's only here because he's your boyfriend." Harding grunted.

"What's got your panties in a bunch, Ace?"

"Nothing… just tired being treated like a second rate security guard." He said, turning to the security guard. "No offense intended." He looked back. "While he is up there making nicey with my partner, distracting her from her work."

"Colleague." Temperance replied, glancing to Booth. "And he's not making nicey with me… whatever that means. He's talking to me about why he's tardy. I am, after all… his boss." She said, watching Booth stand idly for a moment. "So are you going to answer me, Booth?"

"Yes." Booth replied. "I wasn't here, because I was getting a job offer somewhere else." He said, watching Temperance pause for a moment.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes lifted to meet his.

"I got offered another job." He shrugged.

"So you went for your test, and someone just offered you another job?" She asked, knowing it wasn't the case, she watched him for a moment. "What kind of job?"

"Well, it's similar to this one… but I'd be working for someone a little above you."

"Perhaps we should talk about this with Cam." She said softly, unsure of exactly what he was getting at, and almost fearing that it was as blatantly obvious as it seemed.

"Cam knows…. And I kind of applied for the position… requested it, actually." He said, letting his eyes flash between Temperance's intense stare, and Harding's glare of annoyance at the game Booth appeared to be playing.

"What position, Booth?" She asked, watching him carefully. "And… what does Cam know?"

"We talked with her at the meeting I had this morning… conference call."

"Booth." She said, her voice was tired, and her irritation level was rising very quickly.

"Well…" He shrugged, pulling a badge from his wallet, he flipped it open and smiled. "You're looking at Special Agent Seeley Joseph Booth… SSA." He said, smiling proudly as he watched Temperance's jaw almost literally drop. "I'm back!"

"You've got to be…" Harding began.

"Harding!" Temperance exclaimed as she snapped the gloves off of her hand and approached Booth quickly. She grabbed his tie and started walking toward the steps, dragging him behind. "You." She said, pointing at Harding with her other hand. "Stay right there." She said, tugging Booth's tie as she walked toward her office, being sure to slam her door behind her so that no one would think to even attempt to follow her or interrupt.


	13. Death By Firing Squad

The moment the door slammed, her hand dropped from his tie and she approached him quickly, his hand moving for her hip as she pushed him against the door. "Bones?" He said, unable to read her expression, she rested her head on his chest for a moment. "Bones, are you alright?"

"No." She whispered.

"No?" He asked, moving to the side a bit, he tried to read her, but she refused to look up at him. "Bones… what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes flashing up to him, they were filled with fire. "What's wrong, Booth?" She said, taking a slow, deep breath, and closed her eyes, opening them, the fire had been ignited, or clouded. "Nothing." She said, taking a deep breath. "Nothing is wrong… just forget it." She said, turning around, she walked swiftly toward her desk. She walked around the desk and sat down, resting her head in her hands as she stared at the screensaver on her computer. A picture of Antonia slid its way across her screen, quickly changing to the next picture, another picture of her daughter, smiling through a cake covered face at her first birthday party.

"You can't tell me that nothing is wrong. You're angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you." She shook her head. "I'm happy for you." She said, her eyes flashing to the next picture on the screen, one of Antonia on Hodgins' shoulders at the zoo, a bright grin on her face. "You… went out and got a job… and… and you didn't need my help, or my opinion. You're a grown man." She said, her jaw set with the next picture, her daughter sleeping on her couch in her office, her stuffed elephant tucked under her arm. She looked away from the screen, and Booth could see the tears in her eyes.

"Bones, I need to know what you are thinking." He said, as he watched her stand up suddenly in front of him, her eyes red with tears that she was holding back.

"You don't need to know what I'm thinking, Booth. You don't need to know, because you already know what I'm thinking."

"Goddamn it, Bones, I can't read your mind!" He exclaimed, pounding his fist against the desk, she stood nose to nose with him, and there was no indication that she was about to hold anything back.

"You don't have to read my mind." She said, coldly. "Secret Service…What were you thinking?" She asked, glancing to her screen, another picture of Antonia skipped across the screen, a picture of her and the little girl, both smiling at the camera, and Temperance's breath caught for a moment.

"I was thinking that the benefits were better than what they are at the Jeffersonian. I was thinking that I could actually have a little bit of authority, a title that I could be proud of, that I had earned. I was thinking that I could have a little dignity, not being hired out of pity by my former partner just because I happened to be alive when she thought I was dead."

"I did not give you this job out of pity! I gave you this job because you were equipped to handle it!" She exclaimed.

"You were trying to turn me into a lab rat!" He exclaimed. "You were trying to turn me into a squint." He said, his voice lower as she focused her attention on him. "I'm not a squint, Bones. I'm a proud man, an honorable man… I am a good friend, a good partner, I'm…"

"You're a father, Booth!" She exclaimed, grabbing her computer monitor, she turned it around and the next photo of Antonia flashed across the screen. "Tell me how you would tell that little girl that her father isn't coming home because he stepped in front of a bullet for some stranger!"

"Would it be any better if her mother didn't come home, because someone wasn't there to block the bullet that was meant for her?" He snapped back just as angrily, as both of them became completely silent, the picture of Antonia on the screen changing again. She was trembling as she stared at him, his eyes were dark and imploring as he tried to read her reaction. He could see her pain, feel it with each breath, and he knew that one wrong word, and he might very well find himself flattened on the floor by her. So he waited a moment or two, letting his words sink in, her lips trembling, her hands following suit. "I have become very, very good at protecting the ones that I love, Bones. I am not invincible, I know that… I know that sometimes you think that I'm not being careful. I am always careful. I am always, always watching your back, and you would be surprised… sometimes there are things about you that I know, that you don't even know."

"Stop." She whispered.

"No. You need to listen to me. You have a partner, Bones… I'm not your partner anymore."

"Booth."

"No, listen… listen… it's okay." He whispered. "I'm not your partner, because I'm not next to you anymore. I'm not with the FBI, I don't work for the FBI… Harding… he's your partner with the FBI. He's a good man, he's honorable… he'll take care of you, and you probably ought to start treating him a little better... he's going to watch your back, but you have to trust him."

"Booth, stop."

"I'm not a squint, Bones. I am not meant to stay at a desk, I'm not meant to do experiments and scream 'King of the Lab'… and you'll never, ever see me in one of those awful jumpsuits…" He said, chuckling a little, he could see a slight smile on her face. "Sorry if that ruins one of your fantasies…"

"Booth." She whined, trying not to smile.

"I'm not your partner, and I'm not a squint… so where does that leave me?" He whispered.

"I don't know."

"I don't stand beside you, Bones… I stand in front of you… what goes first?" He whispered.

"I don't know what that means."

"What goes first, Bones?"

"Gun goes… first…?"

"That's right." He said, reaching into his pocket, he pulled the badge out, flipping it open, he dropped it onto the desk, his clearance printed clearly on the badge. "What does that say?" He asked.

"Jeffersonian Institution Medico-legal Lab Liaison…" She whispered.

"I am your gun." He said, watching her eyes as she ran her thumb over the metal badge. "I don't walk beside you, or behind you, I walk in front of you, Bones… just like I always have. I have a duty to protect you… the squints, and the technology of the Jeffersonian institute forensics lab from any threats, real or otherwise."

"You don't want to work for me." She said, looking up at him, her eyes clearing, she sniffled.

"I wanted to work with you, Bones… not for you."

"But you went behind my back." She said, glaring at him, though he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"I did, and I'm sorry." He whispered. "Will you forgive me?"

"I'd rather fire you." She said, putting the badge down on the desk, she slid it across the desk toward him, looking up into his eyes, she flashed a bit of a defiant glare in his direction, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I've never been fired before." He whispered.

"Well, Agent Booth… there's a first time for everything." She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked around the desk slowly. "Did you take a job without the express permission of the Jeffersonian Institute, while under their employment?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Don't call me 'Ma'am'…" She shook her head, watching him smile, she continued to look at him sternly.

"Sorry." He grinned.

"Are you getting smarmy with me, Agent Booth?"

"Always, Doctor Brennan." He said, watching her approach him, she stepped ever closer to him.

"So you took a job without the permission of the Jeffersonian institute, and you're being insubordinate? Am I to understand this correctly?"

"Yes, Ma'am…" He nodded, his grin becoming wider when she wrapped her hands slowly around his tie.

"And this?" She asked, as she, without warning, grabbed his 'cocky' belt buckle with her other hand, jerking him into her hard, he let out an involuntary grunt of surprise. "Is this regulation dress for the Jeffersonian Institute, Agent Booth?"

"No, Ma'am." He whispered breathily, descending his lips upon hers slowly, letting his tongue move languidly through her lips, a deep, throaty groan escaping her throat as he smiled against her mouth, his hips moving against hers. "This is sexual harassment, and I don't have to take it." He whispered against her mouth.

"You're fired." She whispered against his mouth, holding back a giggle.

"You can't fire me… I quit." He said, stumbling backwards a bit as she started to laugh, she buried her face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her into a hug. "I love you, Temperance."

"I love you." She whispered, sighing against his chest as she looked up into his eyes. "Take me to lunch."

"Where do you want to go?" He asked, feeling her hand wrap around his tie again.

"Somewhere that you can show me that new regulation gun of yours…" She said, turning around, he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into him, forcing a laugh out of her, as he buried his nose in her neck as she reached for the doorknob.

"Maybe later…" He chuckled as he shook his head. "But I think it'd be best if you make nice with your partner out there first."

"I don't know what that means."

"Invite him to lunch with us. Let him in on some of your squinty secrets."

"But not all of them." She replied, tilting her head, he shook his head.

"No, not all of them." He laughed. "Ready?" He asked, reaching across to grab the doorknob.

"Hey, hey… professional." She said, letting go of his tie, he straightened it as she turned around and fixed it for him, looking up into his eyes, he saw that sparkle had returned. She leaned up for a kiss and wiped the residual lipstick from his cheek with her thumb as he shook his head and laughed. She then opened the door and walked out of her office, heading directly for the sliding glass doors with Booth close at her heels. "What are you waiting for, Harding… its lunch time." She called after him, slipping out the door with Booth, as the FBI agent raced to catch up.


	14. Unseen Truths

Booth reached out and opened the door to the diner, allowing Temperance and Harding to walk past him inside, Temperance glanced to Booth and he nodded to their table in the back where Angela and Hodgins were already sitting and eating their lunch. Booth made a quick stop at the counter and made their orders, the three of them stepped up to the table and Angela looked up and grinned at her friend.

"Hey, Ange." Temperance said, sitting beside her friend as Booth sat next to Hodgins, leaving Harding to stand for a moment. "Booth. Let Harding sit…"

"He's a big boy, he can get his own chair." Booth said, noting Temperance's glare, he stood up and motioned toward the chair, grumbling a bit as he watched the smarmy grin on Harding's face as he sat down.

"Woah…" Hodgins laughed. "You were schooled by your own girlfriend, man." He laughed.

"Shut up, Hodgins." Booth said, grabbing a chair from the next table over, he pulled it up to the table and sat down, noting the tight smile on Temperance's lips as he shook his head and smiled. "I think that you're having a little too much fun with this, Bones."

"Too much fun with what?" Angela asked, glancing to her friend.

"She fired me." Booth replied, obviously amused with the situation as Harding scoffed.

"Tell her why she fired you." He said, nodding toward Angela. "Tell her why you got fired."

"Oh, shut up… you're just jealous."

"Jealous? I'm not jealous…"

"That's why you spent the entire ride over here playing with the different gadgets in the truck."

"What gadgets? What truck?" Angela said.

"Just give them a second." Temperance replied. "They have to do this Alpha male pissing contest every few minutes or else they'll…"

"Are you done?" Booth asked, interrupting her explanation, she simply smiled.

"Tell Angela and Hodgins why I fired you." Temperance said softly, nodding toward their two friends, looking up as their food was delivered to the table, and brought Angela and Hodgins their dessert.

"Well, she didn't actually fire me… I more or less quit, but that's besides the point." He said as he thanked the waitress. "I got a new job." He said, pulling the badge from his pocket, he dropped it on the table.

"Whoa… man in black!" Hodgins said as he nodded his head, lifting the badge up. "Secret Service… awesome… Protector of the dark forces that lead our country into war and economic decline." Hodgins nodded with a grin. "Very cool."

"Not exactly." Booth replied, pointing at the badge, he swatted Temperance's hand as she reached for another fry on his plate.

"Jeffersonian Institute Liaison?" Angela asked, looking to Booth, taking the badge from Hodgins. "Does that mean we're not working with the FBI?" She asked, glancing to Harding.

"No." Harding replied. "It means he's going to be a pain in my ass for every single case. That's all it means." He teased.

"I thought the Secret Service were for diplomats and the President and his family." Angela replied, handing the badge back to Booth.

"Yeah, well…" He said, pocketing the badge he glanced to his plate and noticed that half of his fries were missing. "Geez, Bones… you ate half of my fries."

"They're bad for you." She said, reaching for another one, she watched his faux glare. "And they're getting cold. You talk a lot."

Booth sighed and laughed a little, watching as she began to devour her salad, though her eyes would drop to his plate now and then. "With some of the recent developments concerning corruption in many of the agencies, patent issues… security clearances and such, the President was concerned about the safety of the Jeffersonian's Forensics lab. Apparently there are going to be some pretty sensitive cases coming up, and there have been some pretty sensitive cases in the past… making the technology and the brains… not to mention the tools that we use on a daily basis, a matter of national security. So… you guys go out into the field… I'm there… Bones goes out into the field…"

"He's there." Harding rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up… you don't even know how to secure a crime scene for her." Booth teased, taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Yeah well… you got fired today." Harding shrugged.

"He wasn't technically fired." Temperance replied. "Cam reassigned him. So he doesn't work for the Jeffersonian, he is just our protection." She explained.

"I really don't get it though… why Secret Service?" Angela asked.

"He just wants a good excuse to go through your trash and have you arrested on things you didn't do." Harding said to Hodgins, whose eyes widened in surprise, and he coughed a bit on his bite of food.

"Nicely played, Ace!" Booth nodded with a laugh.

"Thanks." He said, laughing as Hodgins scoffed and shook his head.

"You can Google Secret Service, Angela… it explains about how the President assigns special agents on different assignments, there's a lot of information out there."

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain it to her later… Pregnancy has made her a little bit loopy." Hodgins laughed, taking her glare in stride, he decided to change the subject, turning to Booth. "I knew you wouldn't last as a squint, man." Hodgins laughed.

"And take all the squinty fun away from you and the interns? No way." Booth laughed. "But I will tell you…" He said, glancing to Temperance, he noticed she was poking her fork at Angela's half eaten dessert. "Bones, what are you doing?" He asked, watching her shove a forkful into her mouth, she gave him a glance and he nodded toward her as she shoved her fork back into the food on Angela's plate.

"She was done." Temperance replied, glancing to Angela. "You were done, right?" She asked.

"Uh… yeah." Angela nodded, giving Booth a knowing look with a bit of a sigh.

"Why?" She said, taking another forkful, she shoved it into her mouth.

"You don't like pie, Bones…"

"This isn't…" She glanced to Angela, and then to the plate. "Hm… it's surprisingly good." She said with a shrug, completely missing the exchange of glance between Booth and Angela. "I'll be right back." She said, clearing her throat a little, she stood up and excused herself, walking quickly toward the bathroom.

Everyone at the table remained quiet until Temperance disappeared behind the bathroom door, and the awkwardness of the moment only increased tenfold. "Booth." Angela finally spoke up.

"Yes?"

"You need to get her to a doctor."

"I understand."

"Soon."

"I am following you." He said with a nod.

"I'm not." Hodgins replied.

"Me neither… I'm completely lost." Harding replied.

"She doesn't know?" Angela asked.

"As far as I can tell, no."

"This is not good."

"I am actually quite ecstatic. I've been dying to tell someone about it." Booth said with a slight smile.

"Ecstatic about what?" Hodgins asked. "You guys aren't even saying anything."

"What are you two talking about?" Harding asked, as they all looked up to see Temperance returning to the table.

She sat down and looked around at the two confused men, and Angela and Booth, who appeared to have been in the middle of a conversation, and she looked around the table. "Did I miss anything?"

"No." Angela said with a smile, as she slipped on a comforting smile. "I was just telling Booth that he has to be careful out there… he has Antonia to think about."

"That was a concern of mine as well." Temperance replied as she nonchalantly took another bite of pie. "But we got it all straightened out, right? Everything is going to be just fine, as long as nothing unexpected pops up." She said as Booth nodded, avoiding eye contact with Angela, as they continued their lunch, willing the awkwardness to melt away.


	15. Late To The Tea Party

Temperance had spent the remainder of the afternoon in the lab with the remains, a middle aged Caucasian man who had apparently died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach, and then transported to the woods and his body dumped. Through analysis of the maggots found on the body, it appeared that he had been dead for a short time before transported, and quite possibly moved because of the pungent odor. There were maggots from two different places on the body that Hodgins managed to determine, and the body was about to have the flesh removed by her interns when she heard the echo of her daughter's voice bounce off the walls of the lab.

Max had kept her after preschool, and Booth had gone to get her from his house, and they were going to meet at the lab to pick up Temperance for dinner. She stood over one of the computers on the platform, and lifted her eyes to see the little girl waving from her father's arms.

"Ready to go, slow poke?" She called as Booth nodded toward her office, and she smiled at the little girl.

"Almost." She said, nodding to Booth to indicate that he could bring her to the office and she'd be right there. She finished typing up a couple notes, reading the notes of the interns about their process of removing the flesh, she closed the report and pulled her gloves off, heading toward the office with a bit of a skip in her step. She walked in to find Booth sitting at the small table , 'sipping' a cup of 'tea.' She smiled, watching the large man sitting at the child's table lift the cup to his lips, his pinky finger sticking straight out. "You are sitting in my spot." She said, glancing to her daughter, who was sipping from her own cup of 'tea'.

"You were late for the tea party, Mommy." She shrugged.

"You snooze, you lose." Booth said, sipping from his teacup, he watched Temperance try her best not to smile at the pair.

She shook her head and walked toward her desk, looking over a couple of items that were dropped in her box while she had been working during the afternoon, she felt a hand on her waist and continued to look down as he leaned his head over her shoulder. "You're hungry." She said, glancing at a folder, she opened it and looked through it quickly.

"Yep." He replied, kissing her hair as he turned around.

"Are you sure? You have been over there eating invisible cookies." She said, turning around, she came nose to nose with him, leaning against her desk, he leaned even closer, if possible. "I would think that you'd be all filled up on them."

"They're not very filling." He said back, his voice low as his eyes flickered to her lips, and back to her eyes, revealing his desire to kiss her. She leaned her forehead against his, and was about to speak when Antonia decided that they were a bit too cozy for her comfort.

"Daddy! Get over here! The party isn't over yet!" Antonia exclaimed, jumping from her chair, she ran as quickly as she could toward them, slamming into Booth's leg.

"Whoa… careful…" Booth said, pulling reluctantly from Temperance's attention, he leaned down and picked Antonia up. "Tea party is all done, we're kidnapping mommy and taking her home."

She scowled at him and huffed. "I don't want to go home. I want to play tea party."

"We can play tea party at…"

"No!" She exclaimed, kicking her foot, her shoe planted hard right in Booth's rib, forcing him to cringe as Antonia's jaw dropped and he put her to the ground, grabbing his side, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath.

"Booth?" Temperance said, trying to get him to look at her. "Booth, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry." Antonia whimpered.

"I'll be okay in a second, just give me a second." He said, turning away from both of them.

"Daddy, I'm sorry!" Antonia exclaimed, her mother grabbing her hand as Booth took a moment to compose himself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She exclaimed, pulling at her mother's hand, Temperance swung her up into her arms and she pushed against her trying to get to Booth.

"Booth?" Temperance said, watching his eyes open after releasing a deeply held breath. Antonia continued to struggle in her mother's grasp, pulling at her shirt, as she continued to apologize and whine.

"I'm fine." He said, his voice a bit deeper as he turned toward his daughter. "Stop pulling at your mother." He said, lifting her up, he put her to the ground, she tried to pull at him, and he shook his head. "Antonia, that's enough."

"I'm sorry, Daddy…" She exclaimed. "I'm so, sorry!" trying to get him to pick her up, he shook his head.

"No… stop the nonsense… How am I supposed to protect you when a three year old can take me down?" He said gruffly, glancing to Temperance, she looked absolutely exasperated. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked, rubbing his sore rib, he gave her a half smile, trying to get her to look at him.

"Hungry… I'm hungry." She said, with a sigh, she looked him in the eyes and watched his sparkle back at her, and for a moment, the sound of the shouting child beside her disappeared, and she just focused on him. "Alright, that is enough, Antonia." Temperance said finally, watching the little girl stop shouting and stomp her foot angrily. "One more word, young lady…" Temperance's eyes narrowed, and Antonia sighed, looking up at Booth and back at her mother, she very quickly realized that she had lost this battle. Temperance looked to Booth, her eyes pleading. "Please just take me home." She said in a whining voice, that Booth simply smiled at.

"Your wish is my command." He said with a slight wink, listening to a very light laugh escape her lips. He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek, as he led his two ladies from the lab.

* * *

Once they were home, Booth sent Temperance to lie down for a few minutes, while he made dinner, and Antonia played quietly in her room. Once the salad had been made, and the rolls warmed, Booth stepped quietly into the bedroom, lying down next to Temperance, he watched her sleep for a moment, before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes opened slowly, and a smile spread over her face. "Hi." She said sleepily.

"Hey. Dinner is ready."

"Mm…" She groaned, moving onto her back, she yawned, feeling his weight on her as he rolled over her, holding himself up with his arms, she smiled up at him. "What are you doing?"

"Trapping you."

"Why? I'm hungry." She said with a sleepy smile, leaning up, she captured his lips with hers.

"I think you're pregnant."

Her eyes widened, and she had a sharp intake of breath. "Excuse me?"

"I think you're pregnant." He repeated.

"Don't be ridiculous, Booth." She said, swatting at him, he rolled onto the other side of her and watched as she sat up, stretching a bit. "I can't be pregnant."

"Why not?"

"Because I had my last menstrual cycle two weeks ago, Booth." She said, looking at him pointedly. "Don't you remember?"

"Oh." Was his only response, he swallowed hard.

"What on earth would give you the ridiculous notion that I'm pregnant?"

"Well… you've been very moody lately… you eat more than your typical share from my plate at the diner… you're tired all of the time… and come on Bones, you ate pie today… you ate pie."

"Oh well… If we're going with the consumption of baked goods diagnosis, then I'm going to have to agree with you. I'm pregnant… you got me. I thought I fooled you, but I can't get anything past the pastry detective." She said sarcastically as she pulled a sweater over her shoulders. "It's cold in here." She mumbled as she walked toward the door.

"Bones…" He said, rolling from the bed, following her out into the hallway. "I have just seen some… symptoms of you not acting yourself, so I am just putting the pieces together." He said, watching her turn to face him.

"Booth… I've been moody and exhausted because I have been dealing with an overactive three year old who has an unhealthy attachment to her father, her stuffed animals, and damn near anything other than me… My former partner… comes back from the dead with not only his charm still intact, but his unparalleled passion for driving me up a wall in absolute mint condition. My daughter can't go an entire night without a nightmare, and she's growing up faster than I would like. You… you are doing things behind my back, you're getting yourself involved in duties that you shouldn't be, putting yourself in danger again… I'm stressed out, Booth. I'm stressed out and I am tired… and if that makes me moody, then so be it!" She exclaimed. "Stop throwing ridiculous accusations in my direction and just deal with it!"

"But Bones…"

"I am acutely aware of my own body, Booth… and just in case you aren't aware, I have given birth to one child already. I know what it feels like to be pregnant, I would know."

"Bones, I know that you got sick at the crime scene yesterday. You've never gotten sick at a crime scene, never… explain that."

"I told you exactly what I was doing in the woods, Booth." She said, narrowing her eyes at him, challenging him to argue.

"I just… Bones, I just don't want you to keep something from me, okay? If you know something, you'll tell me, right?"

"I always tell you. Everything." She said sternly.

"If you were, you know… I'd be happy for us, I'd support you. I love you."

"Booth." She said, stepping forward, she rested her forehead on his and traced her finger on his t-shirt covered chest. "I am just trying to deal with the things that life is throwing me now. I just got you back, my baby is growing up… I'm working on dangerous cases with the FBI again, you know? I have a lot of things on my plate right now, a lot of things. The last thing that I want to deal with right now… is a baby." She said, kissing his lips softly. "I know my body, Booth. Trust me." She said, turning sharply, she headed for the kitchen, leaving him standing in her wake, hoping that he could honor her wishes.


	16. The Cons to Protection

Brennan had gone to bed that evening, Booth's words haunted her dreams, and she tossed and turned throughout the night with a nagging sensation of the possibilities. She had tried to push the thoughts aside, and though her life had been throwing one thing after another in her direction, having a family with Booth was always something that she had dreamed of. She thought of all of those restless nights that she would find herself holding Antonia, her first tooth, her first word, first steps, and how she wished that he had been there to see each and every one of those moments. He may have been lurking in the shadows, but she knew that he had missed so much, and he knew that. Booth was the kind of man who stepped up to his responsibilities, and didn't just do what was expected, he always followed his heart, and having his child the natural way, the way it should be done, was something she wanted eventually, maybe when life slowed down a little. But she wasn't pregnant now, she couldn't be… she would know… wouldn't she?

When Booth woke in the morning, she was pretending to be asleep, her eyes closed and she kept her breathing regulated and slow. She felt him shifting in the bed just as the alarm went off and she wondered to herself if he had also been up all night thinking. They went about their normal morning routine, getting Antonia ready for school, and drove in together in Booth's car, obviously at his insistence. Sure, she had bickered about the lack of need for all of the gadgets that he had been given, but ultimately she was just jealous that his truck was a little more sophisticated than hers, but she'd never tell him that.

* * *

Temperance had gone directly to her office, leaving Booth to roam the lab and become acquainted with the different personnel, and projects that he would be working on, along with becoming familiar with the technologies that he would be expected to protect. His first stop was an obvious one, and as he strolled into the office of his girlfriend's best friend, he was greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Booth." Angela said, her voice holding a slight ring of surprise. "I'm still getting used to you being alive." She said with a friendly laugh.

"That's what every guy likes to hear." He said, sitting in the chair across from Angela, he tipped it back slightly and gave her a charming smile.

"What are you up to?" Angela asked, of course she was speaking of the case, but she could already see by the look in his eyes that he was more interested in something else. "Let me rephrase that… what are you up to…?"

"You just said the same thing twice…"

"Yes… but now I'm sure you're up to something you shouldn't be." She laughed, watching him laugh back.

"Did you give Bones the reconstruction?"

"I did… she just e-mailed me to say she's sending it to Harding for identification of missing persons."

"Good."

"Did you want to see how I did it?" She asked, watching the amused smile on his face, he shook his head.

"Nah." He shrugged. "I trust you."

"I thought you were supposed to be learning about our equipment."

"Ange, you know that whatever squinty jibber jabber you spout out, it's going to go in one ear, and out the other… but I appreciate the offer." He smiled.

"There's another reason you're in here."

"Nope." He said, giving her a guilty grin, she shook her head.

"She won't admit it."

"She debunked all of my theories, so maybe you'd have better luck." Booth replied.

"Better luck with what?" The voice from the doorway asked curiously, and Angela and Booth looked up to see Temperance standing against the doorway.

"Um…" Angela said, deferring to Booth.

"Better luck identifying the um… victim." He said triumphantly, watching the confusion on Temperance's face, she shook her head.

"Harding got a match." She said, turning to walk away, she headed back toward her office.

"Wait, what?" Booth said, standing up quickly. "Bones, hang on…" He caught up with her and touched her shoulder, and she turned, looking up into his eyes, she had to pause for a second. "He found a match already?"

"Yes." She said, giving him an introspective look. "Is your hearing alright?" She asked, watching the slight smirk on her lips, he couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, my hearing is alright… he just found the ID really quickly, I'm just surprised."

"Harding is very good at a great number of things." She said with a snide sound to her voice, he knew she was certainly teasing him now.

"Wait, wait…" He said, catching up to her again, he watched her turn and smile.

"Randall White."

"The victim."

"Yes, Harding is on his way over, we're going to question his brother. Apparently, he hasn't been seen for a few days either." She said, turning to walk away from him, she heard his feet following her step into her office. She walked to her desk and checked her e-mail, noting that Booth was just standing in her office. "Did you need something?"

"I'm going with you."

"Obviously." She let out a laugh. "Why do you think I was seeking you out… relax, Booth… I'm not going to ditch you."

"Just making sure." He shrugged.

"I know my place, Booth. It's with you." She said, watching his serious nod, as she flashed him a bit of a smile, as she grabbed her bag and walked toward him resisting the urge to grab his tie as she walked past him, she made sure that her shoulder brushed up against his arm as she walked out the door and into the lab, hearing the sound of his feet, rushing to catch up with her quick stride.

* * *

The cabin was secluded, and a bit on the creepy side, and as soon as they pulled up to the small parking area, Temperance nodded toward the pickup truck in the driveway. Harding nodded and glanced back at Booth, who was doing his own canvassing. Harding parked the SUV and Booth climbed from the back seat as Temperance climbed from her seat, following Harding toward the cabin.

"Is he a suspect, or are we just questioning him?" Temperance asked softly.

"Both." Harding and Booth said at the same time, exchanging a look, they both shook their heads.

"Bones, stay behind me." He said, watching as Harding approached the front door, she nodded her head obligingly; allowing him to be her protector, for it was a role that he was very good at, and the role that he always expected to play. He glanced at her and watched her eyes flash to his, and for a split second he saw a look of excitement flash in her eyes, and he gave her a quick smile, as he backed up Harding and approached the house as well.

Harding walked up to the door, and when Booth looked behind him, Temperance was no longer there, and a bit of panic rose in his belly as he whispered to Harding. "Bones." He nodded, watching Harding nod toward the door. He turned and walked down the steps, noticing that Temperance was crouched near the pickup truck in the driveway that must belong to the brother, or possibly the victim. Booth could hear Harding knocking on the door as he approached Temperance, crouching beside her. "What did you find, Bones?"

"Blood… on the tailgate of the truck." She said, swabbing a bit for evidence, she put it in the small vial and screwed the cap closed, they looked to Harding, who was still knocking on the door, calling the brother's name, standing a bit to the right of the door.

Suddenly, there was a shotgun blast, bursting through the door, forcing Temperance to stand up in shock as Booth immediately stood in front of her, his gun drawn. Harding was shouting for the man inside to stand down, and Booth was pushing Temperance back toward the vehicle, attempting to get her to some semblance of safety. Another shotgun blast through the door sent splinters in all directions, and Harding continued to shout, climbing from the stairs, he backed down toward the truck, shouting for the man to drop his weapon, identifying himself.

Booth had Temperance behind the victim's truck, ducked down below him, both Harding and Booth had their weapons pointed in the direction of the house as they waited to see if the man would show himself.

"Did you call backup?" Temperance asked, looking up at Booth, a bit of terror in her eyes.

"Did you see me call backup?" He asked sarcastically as she glared at him. "Just stay down and keep quiet!" He exclaimed, keeping his gun trained on the doorway.

"Mr. White! I need you to put your gun down and come out here onto the porch to talk to you… we need to ask a few questions, make sure you're alright!" Harding shouted, glancing to Booth, who nodded.

"We'll drop our weapons, if you drop yours, Mr. White. We're not here to arrest you…"

"But he shot at you." Temperance said, as Booth shot her an irritated look.

"What did I say, Bones… down… and quiet." He said, getting another scowl. "Mr. White… please put the weapon down, and come out onto the porch." Booth shouted.

Harding was now at the truck radioing backup as Booth held the suspect, and after a second, Harding's weapon was on the cabin again, and Harding was shouting for the man to come out. After a couple of seconds, a man stepped out onto the porch, a tall, thin man with a short grizzly beard. And he held a shotgun in his hand. Harding was shouting for him to put the weapon down, and Booth just held his fire, standing guard against the man on the porch. The man finally put the shotgun to the ground, raising his eyes to the two men, he held a bit of a smirk on his face, and Harding approached him slowly.

Temperance had been sitting down against the truck when she heard the snap of a branch behind them, and turned, just in time to see a man approaching them from behind. "Booth." She whispered. "Booth, behind us." She said, noticing he hadn't moved yet, she moved backwards toward a stand of pine trees, and, and a man came into view.

Just as Harding pulled the shotgun from the porch, Booth turned his gun in the direction of the other man, realizing that Temperance was no longer behind him. He held his gun on the man in the woods as he ran toward Temperance, watching in horror as he lifted the gun to shoot. His forward momentum was immense, and as Booth shouted for the man to drop the weapon, he felt his body slam into Temperance's as he moved her out of the way, sending her body flying backwards, just as the man pulled the trigger. Booth managed to get a round off, sending the man tumbling to the ground dead.

The impact of the shotgun blast sent Booth hurtling backwards, tripping over something large directly behind him, his entire weight slamming into something hard, he heard a sharp intake of breath and a painful grunt, followed by a gruesome cracking sound as he landed on the ground, never realizing that the impact of force from hitting the tree was stopped by another body. As he scrambled to find his bearings, hearing the hollow sound of Harding's voice through his own panic, he turned to see Temperance lying awkwardly against the tree, bleeding and unconscious.


	17. Paralyzed With Fear

The sound of Harding's shouts on the other side of the pickup truck were muffled by the sound of the blood rushing in Booth's ears as he crawled toward Brennan's lifeless body lying crumpled and sideways against the tree. "Bones! Bones! Look at me, Bones!" He exclaimed, reaching for her, his breath caught in his throat when he realized she wasn't breathing. "Shit!"

"Booth, are you down?" Harding shouted. "Booth!"

"I'm not down! Bones is down! Handcuff him and get your ass over here! She's not breathing!" He screamed as he reached for her, noting the awkward angle she was lying in, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to lie down.

Suddenly, Harding appeared around the truck, sliding to a stop beside Booth. "Jesus, Booth! What did you do to her? Is she shot?" He exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up, Harding!" He shouted back. "She's not shot, I'm shot! Check the perimeter while I get her!" He said as Harding ignored what Booth was saying and just approached them.

"You're not supposed to move her!" He exclaimed as Booth pulled her to the ground on her side and listened for breath sounds. Panicking, he leaned over her and rolled her flat onto her back, when suddenly she gasped, and proceeded to cough. Her eyes flew open and she looked at Booth with a dazed look.

"My God, Bones… you scared the hell out of me!" Booth exclaimed as she looked at him bleary eyes.

"Aahh…" She let out a moan that made the hair on Booth's neck stand on end. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her neck tipped back.

"Bones, look at me… look at me, Bones… are you alright?" Booth asked desperately as he ran his fingers over her hair, her cheek as he desperately tried to get her to look at him. "Bones, look at me!" He exclaimed.

"Hurts." She hissed, trying to move, she felt his hands on her face. "Booth, hurts!" She said, seemingly trying to catch her breath, she touched his arm and could feel the blood seeping through his shirt. "God, Booth, you were hit…" She grunted, in tears.

"Bones, where does it hurt? Talk to me… focus, Bones…"

"I don't know." She said, her head wound was seeping, an obvious contusion was forming on her forehead, and it didn't appear that she hit it too hard, but she wasn't focusing well at all, and for that, Booth was panicked.

"I'll call for an ambulance and check the perimeter." Harding said, running off toward the SUV, Booth remained kneeling beside Temperance, trying to get her to focus.

"Come on, Bones… look at me… breathe… you're okay, you're okay, baby."

"You were shot." She groaned, "I saw you get shot…" She whispered, her face appearing pained with each word.

"Just buckshot, Bones… I have a vest on… see?" He said, ripping the buttons off his shirt as he showed her the flak jacket he had on under his suit. "See that… little wound on my arm, but I'm fine…"

"Ahhh!" She exclaimed, trying to move her legs, she had tears rolling down her cheeks immediately, and Booth was trying to keep her still, his hands checking her to make sure she wasn't hit. "Get off my legs!" She groaned, turning her head. "Get off my legs!"

"Bones, what are you talking about, I'm not on your legs… nobody is on your legs…" He said, feeling the pit in his stomach growing larger with each second. "Bones, can you feel your legs?"

"They tingle… can't move them… they're so heavy." She whispered, trying to move. "Booth…" She sobbed, grabbing his arm, she held it as she started to squeeze his arm, pulling him closer. She exclaimed in pain as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Make it stop!" She shouted directly in his ear, he knew she was in pain, and he was allowing her to claw at him if it made her feel better, he'd allow anything, as long as she was conscious.

"Just stay on your back, Bones… stay on your back." He said, feeling her fingernails digging into his arm.

"What is going on over here?" Harding exclaimed out of breath as he knelt beside the two of them and helped Booth in pulling her hands from his skin, she grasped him again, holding herself to him. "I called an ambulance, backup is on the way… they're bringing the techs here to collect evidence."

"No…No…!" Temperance let out a whimpering moan.

"Bones, it's okay… you'll be okay…"

"No! Not the FBI techs! The lab! Get the Jeffersonian out here! Booth!" She exclaimed, whimpering, her breathing labored as she continued to hold his arm.

"You have a traumatic back injury, and you're pissed about the evidence collection… great!" Booth exclaimed. "Harding, call the Jeffersonian, tell them that they need to get out here."

"It doesn't matter, the FBI techs can…"

"Just do it!" Brennan shouted angrily, a shot of pain shooting through her back, her lungs burning as she let out a grunt of pain, her eyes closing as she tried to subdue the pain by focusing on something else, her grip on Booth's arm tightening.

"You heard the lady. Be Nike." Booth said.

"Shut up, Booth." She whispered, her voice filled with a soft but deadly venom as she directed her anger toward him.

Harding ran off to the truck and Booth watched as she stared up at him, her eyes were still watering from the pain, and her breathing was labored. "You're going to be okay, Bones."

"You hope." She said, rolling her eyes as she felt another shot of pain. "Booth, it hurts. It hurts so much…" she whimpered, gripping his arm through the wave of pain, she pulled him closer. "Booth, if I pass out before they get here… I need you to do something for me." She panted.

"What? What do you need? Anything." He whispered, pressing his lips to hers as he watched her eyes beginning to cloud. "Bones, stay with me… stay with me here…" He said, running his thumb over her temple, she was gasping for air. "Bones, what do you need? Please… please, baby!" He exclaimed.

Harding ran around the truck again, the surprise made Temperance jump a little, sending another shot of pain through her as she grabbed hold of Booth with both hands and let out a yelp of pain. "Jesus Christ, Ace… easy!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry." He said, touching Temperance's forehead, she glared at him and continued to hold Booth, who was now leaning over her, as if he was using his own body to shield everything. "Ambulance will be here in twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes? Are you fucking kidding me? Get me a fucking board, I'll strap her to it and bring her to the hospital myself!" He shouted, trying to stand up, her grip was tight.

"No!" She exclaimed suddenly, her grip tight as she held him. "No… no, don't leave me." She whimpered. "Don't leave me." She said, her voice becoming softer as she pulled him down to her. "Please?" She whispered.

"Is she okay?" Harding asked, watching Booth glare at him.

"Does she look okay, moron?"

"Shh…" Temperance whispered.

"It's okay… it's okay…" Booth said softly as he felt her starting to calm, her hands loosening their grip on his shirt, she was watching his eyes, trying to focus on him. "Focus, baby… its okay. We're going to get you to the hospital." Booth whispered, looking over to Harding. "You checked the perimeter?"

"Yeah… that guy you nailed is dead… our other guy is handcuffed to the rail of the porch, and the house is clear."

"Thanks." Booth said, looking down at Temperance as she stared up at him, breathing heavily. "Hey… you were going to tell me something, Bones… what were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know." She whimpered. "I don't remember." She said, looking confused. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You were shot." She said, feeling the warmth of blood in her fingertips, she watched confusion cloud his eyes.

"You know that, Bones… I told you, it was just buckshot." He whispered. "Vest." He said, tapping the Kevlar vest. "It probably made for one hell of a bruise, but I'm okay."

"You were shot." She whispered again. "Booth, you were shot."

"Yeah, Bones… but I'm okay."

"Ah!" She exclaimed, feeling another shot of pain through her back, she gripped him tightly.

"That fucking ambulance better get here faster, Harding. I'm serious... I'll throw her into the back of the SUV if I have to.

"It's coming, man… there's nothing I can do about it. We can toss her into the back of the suspects pickup." He said, knowing that Booth was in no mood for jokes, but he tried to lighten the situation a bit.

"No…" Temperance panted. "No… no… that's evidence." She managed to let the words escape her lips as Harding shook his head and laughed a little, noticing the bit of a smile on Booth's face.

"Yeah, she's going to be just fine." Booth said, still holding tightly to her, he kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair back gently. "You're going to be just fine."

"Booth?" She whispered.

"Hmm?" He asked against her forehead.

"I don't think I can feel my legs." She whispered, with a bit of terror in her voice as she watched a streak of panic flash in his eyes.


	18. Numb

Booth felt his blood run cold at her words, his eyes held for a long moment before he kissed her forehead. "You're going to be just fine." He whispered.

"You don't know that…" She said, tears flowing down her cheeks as she held him tightly. "You don't know."

"It's probably just swelling, Doc." Harding said quickly, catching Booth's eye, he nodded in thanks for his attempt at keeping her calm. "It's probably just swelling… Booth is a big guy… you hit that tree pretty hard. You'll be alright… you'll be alright."

"Stop." She replied, continuing to cry. "Stop trying to make me feel better." She said, trying to catch her breath. "Stop… just stop…"

"Hey…It's okay, Bones… it's okay…" Booth said, letting her lift her arms slowly, her leg twitched a bit, and Harding glanced to Booth. "Did you feel that?" He whispered. "Your leg moved… see? Your body is trying to fix itself… stubborn, just like that brain of yours."

"Booth, you're shot…" She whispered, seeing the blood on her hands, she started to get upset. "I… I… I don't feel good." She said as Booth leaned down and kissed her softly.

"You'll be okay... just breathe… breathe deeply, you'll be okay… just breathe deeply. Bones?" He said, noticing that she was starting to drift off a bit. "Bones, focus… can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you… stop yelling at me." She said. "I'm in pain, not dead."

"Hey, he's trying to take care of you…" Harding threw in.

"A lot of good that did me…" She snapped, letting her tears roll down her cheeks.

Booth started to sit back, and her hand was still holding his shirt, when they finally heard the rumbling coming down the gravel road. "Harding." Booth said.

"That's probably back up, I'll go make sure that we don't have any unwanted visitors. Just in case." He said, watching as the young agent ran to greet the incoming traffic, being sure not to block the road for the ambulance.

Booth listened to the agents and watched them run toward the house, several of them moving to ensure that the area was indeed secure as they began to collect evidence and secure the crime scene. Having a moment alone with Temperance, Booth leaned in and gave her another kiss on her forehead. He heard her whimper a little, but held her hand tightly in his as he kissed her forehead again. "Booth? I'm scared." She whispered, hearing his voice hum a tender 'I know'. "I'm really scared."

"I know… I know you're scared. I'm sorry I hurt you, Bones." He whispered. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He whispered as he felt her hands tugging at his shirt.

"It's okay… Booth, it's okay…" She whispered, reaching her hand up to his neck, she pulled him down toward her, and rested his forehead against hers. "Hey…" she whispered, listening to him sniff. "I'm the one on the ground, you're supposed to be comforting me." She whispered, hearing his breathy laugh as he sat up and wiped the tear on his cheek, he looked up in time to hear the ambulance, just before it came into view.

"They're here… I'm going with you, okay?"

"Of course you are." She said, squeezing his hand, he was suddenly surrounded by a half dozen EMTs, all asking questions and invading her space, and when one tried to pull Booth away, there was a moment when he almost took a swing. "No… I need him with me." She said, panicking as he backed off for a moment. "Booth!" She cried out as she lost sight of him for a second, panic began to set in when she heard his voice from her other side.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." He said as they worked to stabilize her neck and back as they transferred her to the gurney. "I'll be right here." He said, following the EMTs toward the ambulance. He looked up to see Harding glancing over at him. He gave him a wave to indicate that he was fine, and Booth stepped up into the ambulance with the gurney.

"Booth?" She called from the bed. "Booth, you were shot." She said, moving her eyes to the EMT. "He was shot… check him."

"Bones, stop worrying about me." He said, brushing off the EMT. "I'm fine… worry about her." He said, nodding toward Temperance as she looked up at him. "I'm fine, Bones… I'm fine…" He said as they closed the door to the ambulance, he sat on one of the benches beside the gurney as the ambulance began to move.

"Booth?" She said weakly.

"What do you need, Bones?"

"Tell them about the baby… don't let them hurt the baby." She said, her eyes looked confused and she was squeezing his hand hard to make sure he understood. "Booth."

"The baby? Bones…? You said…?"

"Stop questioning me! Please! Don't let them give me anything… tell them, please." She said, her voice small and pleading as tears rolled down her cheeks, and he had a sharp intake of breath. "Tell them."

"The baby." He said, his eyes widening. "Bones?" He whispered as tears streamed down her face. "I'll tell them… I'll tell them, sweetheart… just relax." He whispered as he kissed her nose. He stood up straighter just as they went over a bump. "Hey! Watch it up there!" He shouted. "Smooth ride, smooth ride! Watch what she's given, she's pregnant… I don't want anything happening to her or the baby, you hear me?" He growled at a young EMT, who nodded nervously.

"Booth…?" Temperance whimpered.

"Sorry, Bones… gotta keep someone in line…" He said, squeezing her hand.

"Control… freak." She said with a half laugh, cringing at the pain.

"I'm the control freak? You were the one yelling orders at the forensics team as you were being loaded into the ambulance." He said with a gentle laugh, glancing to the EMTs as they removed her boots. He watched as they pulled down her socks, leaving her feet bare and he was frozen as he watched them roll an instrument up and down her foot. No reaction, not even a flinch. He felt his stomach clench, her voice bringing him back to reality.

"Booth?"

"Hm…?" He said, his attention completely on her, he couldn't help but give her a smile.

"We're going to be alright, right?"

"Yes." He whispered. "We're all going to be alright." He whispered, touching her cheek, he kissed her lips softly and grasped her hand and held onto it tightly, their eyes never leaving one another's as they made their way to the hospital.


	19. Give In

As the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, the doors opened, and it was a mad rush to get the gurney off the back of the truck and into the hospital. Booth couldn't remember the last time he had taken a breath, he was so distraught, people were asking him questions left and right, and he looked around for Cam, whom he had called on the way in to the hospital, because he knew that she had both his and Temperance's best interests at heart, and when it came to the tough decisions, he would trust her to be upfront and honest, sparing nothing to give them the truth.

"Seeley!" Cam's voice broke through the chaos and he turned around, the look of panic on his face was obvious as he followed the gurney down the hallway toward a room surrounded by curtains. Temperance was talking to the nurses, arguing with them. "What's her condition?"

"It's not good." He whispered, hanging back a bit, he watched the nurses explaining to Temperance that she needed to remain still. "She fell out in the field, rammed against a tree… and now she… she can't feel her legs, Cam." He whispered, watching Cam's eyes widen.

"She fell against a tree? That doesn't sound like enough of an impact to…"

"I kind of fell on top of her… it's a long story, I'll explain… but…" He paused for a moment, swallowing hard. "She's pregnant… she's sure of it, I'm sure of it… I need your help, I don't know if she's going to…" Booth started to say as Cam turned from him and walked over to the gurney as they were discussing and arguing with Temperance . She waved the nurses off for a moment and stepped up to the bed.

"Cam." Temperance whispered, she looked so worn from the pain that Cam could tell she was quickly becoming exhausted. She was still strapped on the backboard from the ambulance, her head held immobilized by a massive neck brace, her arms held down to limit any movement.

"Doctor Brennan." Cam said, taking her hand as the nurses worked around her. "Congratulations." She winked, watching a weak smile on the woman's face.

"We don't know for sure… need to take precautions." She said, her brow furrowing. "Where is Booth?"

"He's right there… right over there… the nurses are aware of your condition, they're going to do all they can to help you without harming the embryo." Cam said in a soft voice.

"I need Booth." She whispered.

Cam turned and motioned him to come closer. He stepped up to the bed, and her eyes flashed a bit of fear, before they became stubborn. "I heard them talking about giving me a CT… regardless of the pregnancy. Need you to…if the pregnancy test is positive, do not under any circumstances allow them to do a CT…too dangerous. An x-ray will be fine…"

"What if they can't tell if there are any fractures?" Cam asked.

"They can give me the x-rays… I will look at them."

"Fair enough." Cam replied, glancing to Booth.

"Booth, do you understand?"

"Um… no CT, only x-ray… why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because she's exhausted, Seeley… she needs you to be her medical proxy. In the instance that she can't make medical decisions, she's going to need you to make them." Cam explained, watching the panic race through his features, she put her hand on his arm, suddenly realizing the blood on his jacket. "You're bleeding, Booth." Cam pointed out, looking into his eyes, he pulled his arm back and shook his head.

"He's shot." Temperance mumbled. "I think…" She gave a confused expression. "Too stubborn."

"You have to get that checked out…" Cam said, pulling Booth over to the nurses, she pulled at his jacket.

"Stop worrying about me! Get her taken care of, and you can worry about me all you want later… just get her where she needs to go, tell me what paperwork to sign… just… help me!" He whispered fiercely.

The nurse standing beside Temperance was checking her blood pressure again, and gave her a slight smile. "He's gonna be a problem, isn't he?" She said with a playful smile to Temperance, whose eyes softened a bit at her words and she rolled her eyes as Cam talked with Booth, trying to calm him.

"He's overprotective." Temperance mumbled. "But I love him. If you take good care of me and the baby… he'll be okay." She whispered. Temperance was fading a bit in and out, the sounds around her appeared to be a bit more muffled, and she was worried that she was going to lose consciousness before too long. "Booth." She said, thinking that she was speaking loudly, but it only came out a whisper.

"Sir?" The nurse spoke up as Booth looked toward her, she was writing in a notebook, and nodded toward Temperance. "I think she needs you."

Booth walked quickly toward the bed, reaching up to run his finger over her forehead, he saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh…baby, please don't cry." He whispered.

"Sir, don't touch her, she needs to remain still." The nurse said softly.

"Booth, I love you." She whimpered.

"I love you, baby…"

"I'm sorry I have been so stubborn…" She said, her breathing a bit labored.

"Her heart rate is rising, you have to keep her calm, sir or you're going to have to step away from her."

"Hey, it's okay… I knew what I was getting into when I came back." He said with a playful smile, she smiled through her tears. "Just tell me one thing, Bones… one thing before they whisk you away to get your x-rays done."

"What?"

"Promise me that when this is all over, you'll marry me." He whispered.

"Booth!" She let out a loud sob.

"Sir."

"Just be quiet for a second, she's going to be fine." Booth snapped at the nurse, who gave him a dirty look, which he returned. "Please?" He said, his eyes pleading with Temperance.

"Booth…" She whimpered.

"Me, you… Toni… the new baby… we'll buy a nice house with a yard, and a swing set… and we'll get married. Promise me… no matter the outcome…"

They were suddenly interrupted by the entrance of the doctor, who walked directly to the bed and was looking over Temperance's vitals.

"Booth?" Temperance whispered. "Booth, it hurts…" She whimpered, still having not answered his question, he leaned down and looked into her eyes, nearly resting his head on her forehead.

"I know, baby… I know… I'm sorry. You know I would never hurt you on purpose."

"Sir, you're going to have to step away from her." The doctor said softly, placing his hand on Booth's shoulder.

He turned his head and looked at the doctor. "Keep your hands off me, I'm talking to her." He said, the doctor took a step back, turning the nurse, he began to ask a few questions in a hushed tone about the patient.

"It hurts…" Temperance whispered.

"Give in, Bones… it's okay… give in a little. It's okay to give in to the pain."

"Answer." She whimpered.

"I don't need it, Bones… You know I love you. It's okay… just give in."

"Give in?" she whispered.

"Give in." He said, reaching for her hand, he gently rubbed his thumb over her skin. "Close your eyes, baby." He whispered, as he felt her body relax, as she finally succumbed to the pain.


	20. Wrestling an Alligator

The doctor explained the x-ray procedure, the risks and tried in vain to convince them that Temperance needed a CT. Booth was very adamant about her request, knowing that even in intense pain, she was smarter than the doctor that was explaining things to him.

"I really do think that you need to think about Temperance here, Mr. Booth. If there is numbness in her extremities, there is no telling what kind of…"

"If you ask me one more time, I'm going to take your little pin head, and…"

"Booth." Cam said sternly, watching his red face turn to her, she shook her head. "Doctor Roberts, just do the x-ray… when Temperance wakes up, we'll discuss other options if they're needed." She said in the most professional tone she could muster. "She's resting, and she is in no immediate danger of injuring herself further. Just do the x-rays for now."

"Mr. Booth, I understand that you're the medical proxy?"

"Yes, and that means that what I say goes…" He started to say, until Cam jabbed him with her elbow. "Yes." He corrected.

"Alright." The doctor nodded. "Someone will be down to get you when she's placed in ICU, after the procedure."

"Thank you." Booth said, hoping that keeping his mouth closed had given the doctor at least a little bit of respect for him. He just didn't understand how absolutely special she was to him, and how much he needed her to be okay. Booth watched them wheel Temperance down the hallway toward the elevator, standing with his focus on the elevator doors, until the moment they closed. His heart was beating wildly, and all he could see in his mind was her body crumpled against the tree, broken and not breathing. He took a slow, deep breath, trying to focus, trying to figure out their next move, he was so used to being two steps ahead of everything, he didn't know what to do with himself now.

He felt pressure on his arm, another arm looping in his, and he looked to the side to see Cam, trying to look into his eyes. "Hey… she's going to be alright." She said, her dark eyes reassuring, though he could sense her nervousness."

"She would have been better off if I hadn't been there." Booth said, swallowing hard.

"Hey, you can't blame yourself, Booth."

"No, Camille." He said, narrowing his eyes at her. "That's exactly who is to blame." He said, his tone dark and angry.

"Well, blaming yourself isn't going to do Doctor Brennan any good, now is it? So man up… it happened… can't change what happened, Seeley. Now we just have to deal with it. Let's take care of that wound." She said, tugging on his arm, he looked back at the elevator, as if he expected it to open and Temperance to walk out toward him. "Come on, big guy…" She said, tugging him again, he rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, as she led him toward one of the small curtained rooms in the trauma department.

* * *

Cam led him over to a bed in the exam area to sit, and a nurse brought in some gauze and some things to clean out the wound. The nurse tugged at his jacket and he reluctantly pulled it off, and Cam began gently unbuttoning his shirt as he pushed her hands away and unbuttoned it himself, revealing the Kevlar vest beneath it, Cam helped him pull his shirt down and off as he began to unhook the vest from the side. Cam saw him struggling and reached for it, and he sighed. "I've got it." He said, pulling at it, he watched the nurse coming toward him with some instruments and cleaner to clean his wound, and he flinched as they pulled the vest off, revealing his white undershirt. The nurse stepped near and Cam nodded to her and shrugged, nodding toward the tray.

"I'll take care of his wound, you don't need to worry." Cam said politely.

"You're sure?" The nurse asked.

"You're better off not poking him too much… he won't bite me." Cam said and the nurse nodded and smiled, allowing Cam to take care of Booth's wound. "Geez, Booth… looks like you lost a lot of blood here…"

"I'm fine, Cam." He said, pulling up the t-shirt, he looked at the bruises on his chest and stomach from the hit to the vest, quickly becoming dark and painful.

"You're fine? You're not fine, Booth… just… put the shirt down…" She said, smacking his hands. "You're distracting me." She said as she started to clean around the wound as she watched him smirk a little as he reached for his shirt, she accidently pressed a spot on the wound, and he let out a yelp.

"Geez, Cam! Watch it!"

"You have a hole in your arm, Booth, okay? I'm trying to be careful."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you did that on purpose." He said, glaring at her as she continued to clean the wound with gauze, wiping the excess blood from his arm, smeared from the shirt and jacket rubbing the blood down his arm. He flinched each time she touched the wound. "Stop poking at it, it hurts!"

"So you played big tough guy with Temperance… but I'm trying to help you out here, and you go all big baby on me?"

"It didn't hurt then." He said, flinching. "Geez, Cam… are you cleaning me off with razor blades or something? Watch it…"

"You've been beaten, tortured… blown up in an airplane… but a flesh wound is going to be your undoing?" Cam asked, looking up from the wound with just her eyes, she could see the deep sorrow and guilt within them, he turned his head. "Hey… its okay, Seeley. She's going to be okay."

"She's going to be okay… that's great… but what if the baby dies? What if something happens, and… and she miscarries, Camille? Bones would heal physically… if it's not permanent… she'll be okay… but she'll be devastated if she loses that baby, Camille. It'll crush her." He said. "Bones heal… They're tough… but the heart is just a muscle… it's a lot more fragile." He said, refusing to look at her, she could see the tears in his eyes.

"Booth, you couldn't have known."

"But I did know! I was the one that told her!" Booth said, looking at her with a desperate gaze. "I saw all of the signs! I told her, and I didn't stop her! She shouldn't have been out in the field! She shouldn't have been there! She should have been wearing a goddamned vest!"

"Stop." Cam said, resting her hand on his chest, she released his arm and moved in front of him, placing both of her hands on his shoulders, he lifted his head. "Seeley, look at me." She said, and he stubbornly looked up, giving her an irritated glare. "Putting a Kevlar vest on Doctor Brennan would be like trying to wrestle an alligator into a tutu…" Cam said, waiting for a reaction, she watched him sigh. "Besides, she wasn't shot, Booth… she was hit by a 190 pound bag of muscles and bones." She said as she watched him heave a sigh.

"Again, she wouldn't have been out there if it was confirmed." He said, jumping from the table, he started to pace.

"Booth…" Cam said, watching him pace like a caged lion. "Booth, stop, please." She said, getting frustrated with his overprotective, guilt ridden whinefest. "Seeley Joseph Booth, sit down!" She exclaimed in her best boss voice, his head snapped up as she gave him a little cringe.

"Really, Cam… the middle name?"

"Hey, it works for your daughter." She shrugged. "Just sit down… let me put the bandage on your arm… and then you can call the one person that will be able to solve all of your problems with just three little words."

"And who is that?"

"Antonia." Cam said, tugging his good arm, he watched her with a glare, he sighed as he pulled himself up onto the table and held his arm out for Cam to wrap it. "Did you know that she went on a dig while she was pregnant with Antonia?" Cam said, noticing that his head snapped in her direction.

"She did not." Booth replied.

"She did." Cam said, looking up at him. "Four months pregnant, and she went to Guatemala."

"You let her go to Guatemala? You let her…"

"For four weeks." She nodded as she gently wrapped his arm. "She's a tough woman, Booth. You know that, I know that. She bows to no one… and she worships only one."

"She doesn't believe in God, Cam… you know that."

"I was talking about you, dummy." Cam said, pushing his chest, he flinched as she pushed on one of his bruises, he glared at her.

"You're mean."

"I'm right, and you know it." She said, nodding toward the curtain. "Now let me get rid of these nasty, bloody clothes… you call Max, have him bring you a clean shirt and your daughter… and I'll go tell Ange and Hodgins what's going on." She said, watching as Booth nodded with a heavy sigh, sliding to his feet. "She's tough, Seeley… give her the credit she deserves."

"Oh, she gets everything I've got." Booth said, as he strode confidently through the curtains to find a quiet place to use the phone.

* * *

He stood in an empty waiting room at the far end of the hallway, pacing back and forth a little, he tried to calm his nerves. He didn't want to sound nervous, he didn't want to give away the fear in his heart to anyone, so he waited, forcing himself to sit in an uncomfortable chair and stare at the floor as he flipped his phone open. He pressed the appropriate buttons and waited, hearing the phone ring once, twice, and it was picked up on the third.

"Hello?"

"Max." Booth said, knowing as soon as he said it, that he'd know something had happened. His nerves were shot, and he was in no mood for niceties.

"What happened?" Max said, his voice suddenly serious on the line, Booth swallowed hard.

"I was shot at out in the field today…"

"And Tempe?"

"We're at the hospital, she's getting x-rays." Booth said, knowing that Max would be harping on the vagueness of the details, he waited.

"Was she shot?"

"No… no… she wasn't shot… She had a run in with a tree though, and um… and her back hit a knot on the trunk, she's getting some x-rays."

"Then why do you sound like you're about to snap?"

"I'm not going to snap." He said, seriously. "It's just… its stressful… Is Antonia there? You got her from school, right?"

"Yes… she's playing, Booth… are you lying to me?"

"No." He said, I swear… it's what happened. We just got to the hospital, and things were pretty hectic. She won't even let them look at the x-rays, she wants to look at them herself." He said, hearing Max's light chuckle on the line.

"Well, that's my girl." He laughed. "Do you need me to come down there?"

"I'm not sure yet… I'll call you after we know a little more, okay? I just wanted to talk to Toni."

"Okay… I'll get her…" He said with a light laugh, Booth listened on the line, feeling himself relax when he heard his daughter chattering at her grandfather about this or that, and her voice become louder as he handed the phone to her.

"Hello?" She said, her voice sounding inquisitive and very sweet, it was obvious that Max didn't tell her who was on the phone.

"Hey, baby girl." Booth said, his lips automatically curling to a smile when he heard her happy little gasp.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed happily. "Oompa didn't tell me it was you… bad, Oompa."

"Hey… You be nice to your Oompa. What are you doing over there?"

"Where are you?" She asked, cutting to the chase, she was a Brennan in that regard, and she never let anyone get away with anything. "You were supposed to pick me up a million hours ago."

"A million hours? I am pretty sure that I saw you this morning…" He said, scratching his chin, he listened to her giggle. "Yep… that's right… that giggle is the exact one I heard in my ear this morning before you bopped me on the head with Deuce."

"He was kissing you, daddy!" She giggled. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm here and there…" He said with a smile.

"That's not an answer." She said, and suddenly she gasped. "Did you forget me?" She asked, her voice raising in pitch as Booth chuckled.

"I didn't forget you…"

"Good, because I am your little girl, and it would be naughty, naughty for you to forget me, daddy. Can I talk to Mommy?"

Booth paused for a moment, and she asked the question again. "Oh, your mommy… she's got her gloves on…"

"Oh." Antonia said, pausing for a moment. "She can't talk on the phone with her gloves on?"

"Nope… you know that… she's working really, really hard out there…"

"With her gloves on." Antonia replied, her voice didn't sound convinced. "You can hold it for her."

"Well, she's talking to Big A with her gloves on."

"Huh?"

"She's busy, pumpkin…" He said, starting to get anxious.

"When can I talk to mommy?"

"Maybe a little later, okay, little Bones?" Booth said, just happy he confused her enough that she wouldn't ask more questions.

"When are you gonna come get me, Daddy. Don't tell Oompa, but his house is boring." She sighed. "He watches a lot of TV, and mommy doesn't let me watch TV, so don't tell her, okay?"

"I won't tell her…" Booth chuckled. "Can I talk to your Oompa please?"

"I guess… Don't tell him I told you about the TV thing."

"I won't tattle…" Booth said, the calming effect of his daughter's voice helping him to relax for a moment. "I love you, angel."

"I love you, daddy. Come get me soon, okay? I miss you."

"I miss you too, sun drop… and so does mommy…" He whispered. "Love you."

"Bye again, daddy." She said, as he listened to the phone change hands, Booth sighed.

"Hey." Max said, his voice sounding obviously anxious.

"Max… I will call you when we know more, maybe an hour or so… you can give her dinner, and get her in her pajamas… and I'll let you know if they want to keep her for observation or anything."

"Okay." Max replied. "Are you sure she's okay, Booth?" Max asked, hearing the pause in Booth's voice, he knew it wasn't a good thing, and his next words didn't make him feel any better about what was really going on.

"She's going to be okay, Max. She's going to be okay." He said, his tone a bit on the unconvincing side, perhaps a bit too insistent, as a nurse stepped into the waiting room and caught his attention, waving him toward the hallway. "I have to go, Max… she's being brought into ICU… I'll call you when I know more."

"You take care of her, Booth!" Max exclaimed, but before he could finish his sentence, the line had gone dead.


	21. I'm Okay, You're Okay

As he shoved his cell phone into his pocket, he noticed the slightly alarmed look on the nurse's face and became extremely nervous at just approaching her. "Mister Booth? She's woken up, and she won't let anyone touch her until she sees you."

"I don't understand." He said, following the nurse toward the elevator.

"She woke up on our way to x-ray… and was very upset. She was insisting that you had been shot, and she needed to see you. Her blood pressure had risen considerably, and she was trying to move, until someone said they'd get you." She said, stepping into the elevator, she pressed the button as soon as Booth entered behind her.

"She knows I was shot, she saw me right before she fell asleep." Booth insisted, sighing in concern as he felt his fingertips drumming on his leg.

"She had a pretty bad knock to the head, she's probably just disoriented, but we figured that if she saw that you were okay, she would calm enough to get the x-ray done." She said, seeing the fear lining the man's face, she gave him a slight smile. "It's typically a temporary thing. High stress situation, with the blow to the head, something pretty hard had to have hit her for it to be anything to worry about." She said.

"Yeah, well… chances are, it was my elbow that hit her in the head." He said, stepping out in front of the nurse as soon as the elevator doors opened. Immediately, he could hear Temperance's voice, demanding that the nurses not touch her. She sounded incredibly upset, her voice was strained, and it was obvious that the pain was affecting her. He walked around the corner and could see the nurse holding her shoulder, talking softly to her.

"I just need to see him." She said desperately.

"Is this him, Ms. Brennan?" The nurse asked, giving Booth a desperate look as he approached nervously.

"Bones, are you still giving them a hard time?" Booth asked nonchalantly as he walked up to the bed, hearing her gasp slightly as her eyes rolled lazily to meet his.

"You're alive." She said with tears in her eyes as he reached down and touched her forehead with his thumb, looking to the nurse to dare her to say anything about him touching her.

"I'm as alive as I can be with all of this going on… what are you doing to these poor nurses?"

"You were shot." She whispered. "I saw you get shot."

"I had my vest on, Bones," he said. "I'm okay. Just a scratch on the arm." He said, holding his arm with the bandage so she could see.

"I can't feel my legs." She whimpered.

"I know… I know, we already went over this, baby…"

"Baby." She gasped. "The baby."

"Bones, relax… they're going to do an x-ray first… see if there are any fractures to your vertebrae. If they can determine it from that, they won't do a CT scan, but they may insist on an MRI." He sputtered out all of the technical jargon that he could remember the doctor saying to him not too long before.

"I love you." She whimpered.

"I love you too, baby."

"I'm scared, Booth." She whispered.

"I know, baby, but we're all going to be okay. There is one thing that you need to do for me, okay? Can you do that?"

"What?" She whispered, the fear in her eyes was almost too much for him to take, she had to be absolutely terrified.

"I need you to keep telling yourself over and over that I'm okay… that I'm safe, okay? Can you do that? Can you remember that I am okay?"

"You're okay." She said, watching him with her eyes, though she couldn't nod her head, he could see the affirmation in her eyes.

"I'm okay, Bones… I'm alive, and I'm okay… and you're going to be okay." He whispered.

"You don't know that."

"Just say it over and over, Bones…" He whispered. "Can you do that for me?"

"You're okay… Booth is okay." She mumbled to herself, her eyes wandering for a moment as he watched her for a second. "Hey." She said, focusing on him for a moment, he gave her a lopsided smile, the strength in her voice was surprising.

"Hey, what?" He whispered, his finger still on her forehead as she stared at him for a moment as if she had forgotten what she was going to say.

"If you're going insist on sharing my bedroom with me, perhaps we should get married or something." She said so nonchalantly, that he wasn't even sure if he had heard her correctly.

"Bones." Booth said, a chuckle in his voice at her straight forwardness.

"I don't know where that idea came from." She mumbled. "My head hurts."

"Bones?" He said, getting her attention back on his face. "I'll marry you when all of this is over with… but you really, really need to get this x-ray done with… so we can find out what's going on with you."

"You're okay?" She whispered.

"I'm okay." He said, watching her eyes clear slightly. "I'm alive, I'm okay…"

"Good." She muttered.

"And Bones." He whispered, watching her attention go on him for a second as they burned into his. "I asked you first." He winked as her brow furrowed. "I love you." He leaned down and kissed her nose. "I'm okay."

"You're okay." She whispered, as Booth stood up straight and nodded toward the nurses, and with a quick squeeze of her hand, they were carting her into radiology.


	22. That's My Girl

Booth had been led to small curtained room that was surrounded by other curtained rooms. The walls were lined with different machines, and there was no bed, as Temperance would be wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit in the bed she was being transported on. The nurse had informed him that she would be staying in ICU until they determined the severity of the injury, and would be then moved to a more private room when stable. Booth found a comfortable spot to pace back and forth in the room, his mind throwing a million things in the air as his guilt caught each and every one of them firmly in his heart. With each step, his gut twisted as he thought of what had occurred only hours before, and what had brought them to this point.

He found that he was unconsciously praying as he took each step as well, and after a moment thought of the irony of the situation, praying for an atheist. He let out a heavy sigh as the curtain pushed aside, and he looked up as the bed was pushed into the room. The original collar had been replaced with a smaller version, and her eyes were closed as she lay on the bed, no longer on a board, but her arms were strapped down by Velcro straps, her legs held down as well to prevent movement of any kind.

"Is she sleeping?" He asked, looking to the nurse, who gave him a half smile as she began connecting a couple of monitors, checking the levels on the fluids in the IV and making sure she was secure in the bed.

"She's had a mild sedative, but…"

"A sedative? She said no sedatives… she's pregnant, and she asked that there be no…"

"On the paper that you signed, sir… it indicated several drugs that may be used that will not harm the fetus. We spoke with Ms. Brennan prior to the procedure, and she was cognizant enough to give permission. We have the form that was signed by her prior to the administration of the drugs. It was just something enough to help her sleep through the x-ray process so that she wouldn't attempt to move when she was in a precarious position. It probably won't last much longer, she should be awake, I'm sure she'll tell you herself." The nurse said, still seeing the look of panic in the man's face, she didn't know how to calm him, for he looked absolutely distraught. "The doctor should be in soon, sir. He'll explain everything to you, and he should have the x-rays at that time." She said, watching Booth nod. He seemed to relax just slightly before she turned and left the curtained room.

Booth stared down at her sleeping form, listening to the monitors around him, it felt eerily familiar to him. Except in his case, he was the one in the bed. There were extensive burns and broken bones in every part of his body, and with no friend or family to help him through it, his heart was broken as well. He had been alone and scared, and he knew the exact fears that was parading through her head, and he was determined to ensure that she never felt alone. He was going to be there with her through all of it, whether she liked it or not.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the entrance of the doctor, his eyes held a mixture of concern, and perhaps it was fear, but Booth was unsure. "Mister Booth? The nurse informed me that you were told of the sedative that Ms. Brennan was put under." He said, somewhat nervously, watching Booth nod. "It is perfectly safe in early pregnancy, and has little or no side effects to the mother or child… which brings me to the announcement… that according to the bloodwork…" He said, pausing for a moment. Booth couldn't tell if it was because he was reading the chart, avoiding eye contact, or just plain bumbling, but he waited in anxious trepidation.

"Okay." Booth said, hoping to speed the doctor along in his announcement.

"Ms. Brennan is indeed pregnant." He said, looking up at Booth, who seemed not surprised by the news, he looked at the doctor expectantly. Perhaps he was shocked by the confirmation of his news, but he didn't show it as he glanced to the patient and back to the doctor. "Um…"

"How far along?" He asked finally, relieving the doctor of the awkward pause that seemed to be hanging in the air between them.

"We estimate between six and eight weeks." He replied, watching the man's hard swallow before looking to the woman in the bed. "She's resting comfortably now, and I have the x-rays, and we looked for fractures, and we came back with inconclusive results. Due to the swelling and location of the injury, it was very difficult for us to determine the exact nature of the injury. We were hoping that with a steroid injection we will be able to control the inflammation and get the swelling to reduce, and get a CT scan for…"

"No." Booth interrupted. "No CT. She specifically stated that she didn't want that, it can harm the baby… and the steroids, are they okay?"

"Mister Booth. Steroids are naturally occurring chemicals in the body… it should be fine for the baby, and it will be integral for Ms. Brennan's recovery, but I really do think that you should reconsider the CT scan."

"I said no." Booth said, reaching for the envelope the doctor held. "Are those her x-rays?"

"Yes. But as I said, they're inconclusive at best." He said, handing the envelope over. "Ms. Brennan said that she wished to see the x-rays for herself?"

"Doctor… Brennan." Booth emphasized. "And yes… she wants to look at her x-rays."

"I don't see how she's qualified to…"

"Listen, Doc." Booth said, his tone becoming quite defensive as he stepped forward, the doctor's eyes flashing an obvious nervousness. "That woman over there can look at a skeleton and tell you a complete medical history from birth to death without even touching the bones. Don't suggest that she can't read an x-ray… because if anyone knows bones… it'll be her." He said, glancing to Temperance and back to the doctor.

The doctor still seemed concerned, and his eyes took the same path as Booth's as they traveled back to the man before him. "You can press the call button when she wakes up. I will come and check on her, and we can discuss the steroid shot, possible catheterization if the numbness in her extremities persist, and any other issues that may arise." The doctor replied. "Those are her copies of her x-rays, but I still would like you to consider…"

"I'll press the call button when she wakes up." Booth said sternly, getting his point across quite quickly. "Thank you." The doctor looked as if he wanted to say more, but turned and walked out of the room without another word, leaving Booth standing over Temperance's sleeping form.

At first, he didn't know whether to stand or to sit, her body looked so small lying in the bed and all he wanted to do was pull her to him and hold her. He finally settled on standing for the moment, placing the x-rays on the table beside her bed, he reached his hand down and gently rubbed his thumb across her Velcro strapped hand, feeling the warmth in it was slightly uplifting as he watched her face for a moment. She appeared to be so peaceful sleeping, her face so still and perfect, her skin soft and flawless. "I'm sorry, Bones." He whispered, crouching down to kiss her hand, he looked to her face again. "I am so sorry. I feel like such an idiot for letting this happen. I need you, and I… didn't want to hurt you, I never want to hurt you." He whispered. "I hope you can forgive me." He sucked in a breath, trying to control the emotions that were coursing through his body.

He took a deep breath and stood up, grabbing the x-rays off the table he sighed that deep breath out with a bit of a grunt as he slid the x-rays from the envelope. He held them up to the light, looking at the bluish impression of her spine on the plastic page. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking at." He mumbled to himself.

"That's because you're looking at it upside down." A voice murmured from beside him, his head snapped in her direction, only to note that her eyes were still closed, and there was just the hint of a smile on her face.

"How do you know? You didn't even open your eyes." He challenged, thinking for a moment that he had imagined her voice when her eyes opened.

"Yeah, but I know you." She said, her eyes fluttering open, a smile was instantly on his lips when he saw that spark in her eye that was inherently his Bones. "Let me see…" She said sleepily, her eyes watching him as he lifted the x-ray to the light above her so that she could see. He held it sloppily for a moment, his hand trembling slightly as suddenly, her hand reached up and pulled it from him.

"Hey." He said, looking at her with surprise, "I thought you were strapped…"

She gave him a knowing glare, and though her eyes were still a bit clouded, he recognized her 'give me a break' look, and simply shook his head. "I'm trained in three different types of martial arts, physiology, kinesiology, and have a unique understanding of the mechanics of the body and its abilities…" She mumbled. "I think I can handle a little Velcro strap."

"That's my girl." Booth said with a grin, as he settled beside her bed to watch her work, prepared for anything as long as she was up for the challenge.


	23. Waiting For Good News

Booth walked down the hallway slowly, his eyes gazing back toward the room where he had just left Temperance, and he felt a pang of guilt deep in his chest, but continued on his journey. He reached the elevator and stared at the button for a moment, tempted to turn back around and go back to the room. He took a slow, deep breath and shook his head. "No." He whispered to himself. "I can do this…" He said, releasing the breath. He pushed the button on the wall, waited for the elevator and stepped inside as soon as it arrived. He pressed the button for the lobby and felt it shake a bit before it began to move.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember everything the doctor had told him. Cam had called just five minutes earlier to announce that she was down in the lobby with Angela and Hodgins. He didn't want to leave her side, having promised that she wouldn't be alone for any of it, but she jokingly pointed out that she somehow lived through the x-ray without him; she could handle the MRI without him as well. By the time his thoughts had arranged them in his head, the door opened to the lobby and he stepped in. He walked to one of the small waiting rooms off the main lobby and immediately noticed the three nervous individuals sitting across the room. They all stood at once, though didn't converge on him like he had expected. They instead waited for him to approach.

As soon as he reached them, Angela threw her arms around him in a hug. "Oh Sweetie…" She said, her voice a bit over dramatic, but with the hormones that had been parading around the lab lately, he wasn't surprised. "How is she doing? Is she okay? What happened? Your arm, are you okay?" She said, pulling from the hug, staring into his saddened eyes, he glanced to Cam, who shrugged. She had obviously left the hard part of the details to him. In his head, he sarcastically thanked her, as he took a deep breath.

"I'm fine… I was wearing a vest." He sighed. Bones is… getting an MRI now." Booth said, glancing to Cam, who nodded. "It should be safe for the baby."

"Baby?" Hodgins said, his brow furrowed.

"Oh god! She is!" Angela exclaimed.

"What baby?" Hodgins asked.

"They're um… going to catheterize her… and she…"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute…" Hodgins said again. "What baby?"

"Doctor Brennan is pregnant… try to keep up." Cam said as Hodgins gave an irritated glare.

"How did this happen, Booth?" Angela asked, her voice sincere and frightened.

"You want Booth to explain how babies are made?" Hodgins threw in, accepting the glare from his wife with a half smirk.

"The accident, Hodgins! How did the accident happen?" She asked, turning her attention to Booth. "Booth?"

"The suspect was holding a gun on Harding, and Bones saw another guy in the woods. She warned me, so I moved to block her just as he shot and he knocked me into Bones, and she and I both fell back, and she made contact with the tree." He said, watching all three of them cringe at the thought. "Yeah." He sighed. "And she can't feel her legs…" He whispered, swallowing hard. "She is awake, fairly alert… talking and giving her opinion on just about everything."

"That's Doctor B for you…" Hodgins laughed.

"What did the doctor say?" Cam asked, watching his attention snap to her as a hint of a smile found its way to his lips.

"Well… they still wanted to do a CT." He explained, watching Angela and Hodgins appear to be concerned. "We told the doctor that we wouldn't do it, so they had some x-rays done… he took a look and said there was no way to determine whether or not there were any fractures. He recommended the CT again… and Bones pretty much ripped him a new one once she saw the x-rays."

"Oh… man, you let her see her own x-rays?" Hodgins laughed.

"What did she find?" Angela asked, her voice sounding very concerned.

"She said there were no fractures, but it was obvious that there was a slight misalignment and some narrowing of the spaces between her vertebrae." He swallowed hard. "She… there was some swelling, but they gave her a shot of steroids." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "To um… alleviate some of the swelling, they're hoping that the paralysis is just because of the pressure the swelling is putting on her back. They don't know if it is permanent or not, but they'll know more after the MRI." He said, rubbing his forehead nervously. "I'm not particularly sure if the doctor is very happy with her right now." He said sheepishly.

"Why?" Angela asked seriously. "What did she do?"

"She diagnosed herself." Cam said. "Doctors hate that."

"We're not taking any chances." Booth replied, "The main thing she needs right now is time… time and rest." He sighed heavily.

"We brought you a t-shirt, Cam said you'd need a clean one after all of this." Angela said, handing a folded t-shirt to Booth, he shook it out and smiled.

"Thanks, Ange." He said sincerely, sighing. "I have to give Harding a quick call, let him know what is going on, okay? I'll be right back." He said, watching them nod as he gave a sad smile. "I'll be right back." He said again, stepping out of the room. He was pulling his phone from his pocket when suddenly he heard the unexpected squeal of excitement from the main doors of the hospital. He turned to see a pajama clad little girl running toward him at full force, her stuffed elephant tucked below her arm as he automatically moved his hands to catch her body as it hurtled toward him. He couldn't help but smile.

"Daddy!" She squeaked happily as he lifted her up and held her over his head, lifting Antonia into his arms as he turned to see Max walking toward them. He pulled the little girl into him and hugged her so tightly, she grunted a little with a giggle. "Daddy, you're squeezing…" She said, feeling his arms loosen a bit as he looked into her eyes and gave her a smile, holding her tightly in her arms as her head tilted.

"You look sad, daddy."

"Daddy is just fine." He said, dismissing her concern to show her there was nothing to worry about. "What I want to know is what you are doing here?" He asked, poking her belly as she giggled, walking toward Max. "What are you guys doing here?" Booth asked, his voice hushed as he led Max to the other side of the lobby. "Max?"

"What are you doing here?" Max snapped, his eyes flashing to Antonia as he tried to keep his temper to a minimum.

"I told you why I was here, but I didn't want you to bring her here." Booth growled.

"I called Harding." He snapped. "You were obviously keeping something from me, and I wanted to know what it was."

"I told you that I'd call you when I know more." Booth growled.

"Well?" Max growled.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a gasp, and an exclamation from the little girl. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"What, baby?" Booth whispered, taking a step back from Max, he realized she was pointing at his bandage on his arm. She hadn't noticed it when she saw him at first, and now the panic was obvious in her voice. "Oh… oh, it's okay…"

"It's a booboo…" She said, her lip sticking out as tears rose in her eyes. "Did the bad men hurt you, daddy? Did they try to hurt you again?" She whimpered.

"Hey… hey… daddy is okay… he's a tough cookie…and no… no bad men, daddy is just a clumsy guy." He lied through his teeth and could feel the weight of his words on his soul.

"Does it hurt?" She whispered, sniffling as he carried her to a set of seats, leaving Max to stand angrily stewing as he completely ignored him for a moment. There were times when he could feel like he and Temperance were the only two in the room. Everything melted away, the fear, the sadness, the hurt, the pain, and all he was ever left with was a tender smile and the most beautiful set of eyes he had ever seen. He could say the exact thing about his little girl. His complete focus was on her cherubic face as his heart tugged with each sad glance.

"It doesn't hurt…" 

"Maybe a little?" She whispered, her voice oddly hopeful.

"Maybe a little." He said as he sat down with the little girl on his lap. "I think a little kiss will help." He said with a smile, watching the little girl's smile finally return. She turned her head and kissed the bandage, looking up at her father, he smiled back at her, this time allowing it to reach his eyes. "All better." He said running his finger along her temple as she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Where is mama? Does she know you got a booboo?" Antonia asked sincerely. "She should kiss it and make it better too."

He paused for a moment, stuck on whether or not he should tell her the truth, or come up with another pathetic lie that she would call him on later. Her brown eyes were imploring his deeper, and her head tilted so she could get a better look at him as he thought about what to tell her, when suddenly, it just poured from his lips. "Mama is still at work… she didn't know I got hurt."

She gasped a little, and shook her head. "Daddy…"

"I know…" He said, shaking his head. "I should have told her, but I just didn't want her to be mad at me."

"Mommy won't be mad, silly." She said, patting Booth's hand, he felt incredibly guilty about lying to her, he just needed a little more time, and a few more answers before he came out with everything.

"You're sure?" He asked, eyeing her softly, he watched her head bob up and down as she gave him another kiss. He looked up to see Max standing in the corner, a look of frustration crossing his face as his jaw set. "I think Oompa wants to talk to me." He said with a whisper, watching Antonia turn to see Max glaring in their direction. "Can you do me a big favor?"

"Yes." She said, without a pause.

"Your Uncle Bugs and Big A… they came to check on me, you know…Aunt Cam too." He said with a whisper, watching her eyes brighten. "They're waiting in that room over there… do you want to go see them?"

"Yes!" She said, sliding from Booth's lap, she grabbed hold of his hand and started pulling him. Booth looked to Max and held up a finger, watching Max nod, though Booth could see that he was very angry, he walked toward the room with Antonia. They rounded the corner and she ran directly to Hodgins, who lifted her up quickly and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"What's my favorite little bug doing here?" He asked, looking to Booth, who looked somewhere between angry and as if he were about to cry.

"Max is here." He said, turning to Angela and Hodgins. "I need you guys to take her tonight if you can. I'm going to stay with Bones."

"You're going to tell mommy that you got hurt, huh?"

"That's right." He said with a smile to the little girl. "And that's why we're all here, right? Because daddy got hurt."

"Uh huh…" She nodded, glancing to Hodgins. "Mommy is at work. She doesn't know."

"She is?" Hodgins said, watching the little girl nod, all three adults gave Booth a glance, and his eyes widened so that they'd understand it was important to him to be the one to tell her. "We'll take her for the night, Booth." He nodded.

"Thanks, man." Booth said, giving the other man a handshake in thanks as Booth's spirits seemed to lift. "I will let you all know when we know more… about the swelling and how the MRI goes." He said, releasing a breath.

"You seem a lot calmer than you did when you first got down here." Angela remarked.

"Talking about it helps…" He said with a relieved sigh. "You can drop her off with me in the morning, if you don't mind." He said softly to Angela as Hodgins kept Antonia occupied for a moment, and Angela nodded.

"Get some rest, big guy." Cam said as she headed toward the door.

"I'm going to try." He said, sighing.

"And congratulations…" Hodgins said as he walked toward Booth, still holding Antonia, he gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder.

"Thanks." Booth said, glancing to the little girl. "Hey buttercup… you're staying with Big A and Uncle Bugs tonight, okay? I have to go make sure mommy behaves herself."

"I'm gonna miss you." She sighed.

"Aw, I'll miss you too, baby girl." He said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "Big A is going to bring you to me in the morning, how is that… and we'll go see Mama…"

"Okay." She sighed. "Tell Mama to call me… I miss her too."

"I'll try, baby. Daddy loves you." He whispered.

"Love you." She said, watching as they all walked from the waiting room, as Booth sighed heavily and looked to the floor. He thought of Max being outside waiting for him, and he knew that it was not going to be a pleasant conversation. Suddenly, he turned for the door, rushing out into the main lobby, he spotted Hodgins and Angela about to leave with Antonia.

"Hodgins." Booth called, the man turned, and the little girl waved over at her daddy. He smiled and waved to her, but his face then turned serious. "Just… hang back a second, okay? I have to get you Toni's car seat out of Max's car."

"Booth, we…" He stopped, watching the seriousness in Booth's eyes, it did not escape him as he saw Max standing angry in the corner. "We'll wait." He said, watching Booth mouth a quick 'thank you' as he turned toward Max.

"Okay… so what's the problem?" Booth said, approaching the older man, his own jaw set.

"You. You lying to me about my daughter." He said angrily.

"I didn't lie to you, Max. I just didn't tell you the whole truth."

"She's my kid, Booth! My little girl!" He said, pushing him, Booth stood his ground.

"Don't get physical, Max. I promised I'd call you when I knew more, and I was going to call you. I did not want to bring Antonia into this. I did not want her to have to worry about her mother."

"So you just lied to her? Where is Tempe?" He said, trying to walk past Booth, who put his hands on his chest.

"Max, stop, they're not going to let you see her right now. She's in ICU… she's going to get an MRI done. She hit a tree, her back is hurt."

"And what else?" Max whispered fiercely. "What else aren't you telling me, Booth… because so help me God, I will knock you out if you stand in my way." 

"You hit me in front of that little girl…" Booth whispered angrily. "This will be the last time you see her, Max… do you understand me? It will be the last time you see either of your grandchildren."

Max's eyes widened as Booth nodded at him. "Temperance is…?"

"That's right." Booth said, his eyes narrowing.

"Booth… I'm just…" 

"You're trying to protect your family, I get it. Bones is more than my family, Max… she's my life… and that little girl over there, she's my heart… I would never do anything to hurt either one of them on purpose. You know that, I know that." He said softly. "She was awake… and she's a fighter, she's just in a lot of pain right now, okay? Ange and Hodgins are going to take Toni… and I will call you, Max. I will call you when I know more. I promise."

"You'll call?"

"I'll call… she's okay. I wouldn't be out here talking to you if she wasn't okay, Max. I'd be upstairs with her. I'm going to be here all night with her…"

Max sighed and glanced to Antonia who had been watching the whole thing as Booth turned and walked away from him. "Hey Booth… I thought you needed to get her car seat…"

He turned and glanced to Max. "Hodgins already has a car seat for Ant, Max… I'll call you." He said, watching Hodgins smile and shake his head as he approached them, he lifted his little girl into his arms. "I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet!" He said as Antonia squealed above him as he held her in his arms, pulling her in for another hug, as he walked with Angela and Hodgins to their car to see his little girl off for the night.


	24. A Moment Of Silence

Booth walked Angela and Hodgins to their car, tucked his daughter into her car seat and said his goodbye and goodnight to the little girl. He waved until they were out of sight, sighing heavily, he had seen Max leave the hospital and now as he was walking up to the doors. Walking slowly, he heard the sound of feet rushing toward him, and turned sharply to see Harding puffing breathlessly toward him. "How is Temperance?" He asked as he got to Booth, holding his hand out, Booth offered his fist as the two greeted one another.

"She wants to know if the crime scene was taken care of." Booth said, giving him a sideways glance as Harding stopped walking.

"You're kidding me."

"Well, yeah… but I know that it is going to be the first thing she asks you when she sees you. So?"

"Yeah, the crime scene was taken care of in pure Doctor Brennan fashion. She would have been proud, now how is she doing?" Harding asked, walking with Booth toward the front doors, Booth shrugged.

"She's doing okay." He said, turning as Harding shook his head.

"Listen. It really wasn't your fault. If she stayed down, you wouldn't have had to get in front of her, and when the guy hit you, you would have been the only one to go down. You had control Deuce… she was in the way."

"Yeah, well it still makes me feel like crap knowing that she's lying in a hospital bed because of me… whether I had control over it or not…. It still makes me feel like crap."

"So how is she really doing?" Harding asked, sincerely.

"She's hurt pretty badly." Booth said, swallowing hard. "I still can't bring myself to tell Ant what happened, and… by the way, what the hell did you tell Max?"

"Max?"

"Yeah, Brennan's dad. He said he called you for information… what did you tell him?"

"Oh." Harding paused, nodding he looked to Booth and shrugged. "I just told him that they brought her to this hospital for severe back pain followed by an incident related to a case. I had to tell him, Deuce."

"You didn't have to tell him, Ace." Booth sighed.

"Uh… do you remember what happened to the last FBI agent that double crossed Max Keenan? I did not want to turn into his next roasted Feeb on a stick." He said with a slight smirk as Booth shook his head.

"They were taking her in for an MRI when I came down here to talk to Cam, Angela, and Hodgins. They have to catheterize her." He said, sitting in one of the lobby chairs.

"Sounds a lot worse than you made it sound a second ago." He said, watching as Booth rested his head in his hands.

"She still can't feel her legs." Booth whispered. "They haven't moved since she was brought in."

"Shit."

"And she's pregnant." Booth said, his eyes still focused on the ground as he waited for his words to infiltrate Harding's mind.

"Well that's…" He paused. "Wait, what?"

"Pregnant. Baby… Ace, Small human?"

"Yeah, I got that part, ass." Harding said, giving his friend a solid punch on the shoulder. "Congratulations!"

"Hey, don't congratulate me yet." He said, standing up, Harding could see the fear in his eyes. "We don't know if…"

"She's going to be fine, Booth." He said, standing up. "She's going to be fine, the baby is going to be fine. You're all going to be just fine."

"You sound like her." He said, shaking his head, he sighed.

"Do you remember when we were partners… and you had to take that week off because of lower back pain?"

"Yeah." Booth said, giving his friend a confused glare.

"Well, you're back wouldn't hurt so much if you weren't constantly trying to carry the world on it." He said, holding his hand out. Booth opened his palm and accepted what his friend was handing him, his brow furrowing. "Your car is in the parking lot… I had one of the guys bring it over for you."

"Thanks, man." Booth said, swallowing hard after a moment as his friend's words filtered through his mind.

"I got to go bring him back to the Hoover, then head home. Do you need anything?" Harding asked.

"No… no, we're okay for now." He said, palming the keys, he put them in his pocket. "Thanks."

"Take care of my partner, will ya?" He said, holding his fist out to Booth, the other man bumped his lightly against it as he turned and walked toward the door. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be by tomorrow to check up." He said, watching Booth stand speechless in the lobby for another moment, before he turned the corner toward his waiting vehicle.

* * *

Booth took the elevator to the floor where ICU was located, and as soon as he turned the corner, he knew something was different. In the small curtained room that Temperance had been in previously, there was another bed, and another person, and he clenched his jaw in aggravation as he turned and walked toward the nurse's station. Before he could even utter the words, the nurse knew who he was looking for, and gave him a kind smile. "Mister Booth? Ms. Brennan has been moved to a private room on the next floor up. Room 421." She said with a smile. Booth nodded in thanks and turned for the elevator once again, a heavy feeling in his chest.

He arrived on the proper floor and set his jaw as his eyes roamed the numbers on the wall beside each door. He paused outside her door for a second, and sighed very softly before stepping inside. He didn't know what he expected when he stepped into the room. When he had left her she was strapped and braced, unmovable and groggy. This time, her eyes were open and tired, and her neck was no longer in a brace, and though she was lying flat on her back, she was able to turn her head to see him. Her eyes smiled as soon as he stepped into the room, and he heaved a sigh of relief that she actually looked better than he had left her.

"Hey." He said, trying to keep his voice down as he closed the door to the room behind him, blocking the sounds of the hospital behind him.

"Hey." She said, her voice a bit scratchy and tired. "Did you tell them?" She whispered.

"Yeah." He nodded, still watching her, he refused to say anything more until he had touched her hand. He pulled the stool from the doctor's spot across the room so that he was sitting at bed level with her. His hand grasped hers, and he immediately brought it to his lips. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired." She whispered.

"I know." He whispered. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Only if I move or breathe." She said, smiling just slightly. "Luckily for me, thinking doesn't involve the muscles in my back, huh?"

"Yeah…" He chuckled softly as he tried to remain positive.

"Booth?" She said, swallowing hard. He could tell there was something bothering her, something that was eating away at her, and the way her eyes filled with tears at his name, he knew that he needed to help her.

"Hey… it's okay…" He whispered, swiping at the tear on her cheek with his finger, he ventured a guess. "It's just swelling, Bones." He said softly. "It'll go down, and your legs will be in working order soon enough." He said, watching her shake her head, he knew that it wasn't what she was thinking.

"It's not that." She whimpered.

"Then what is it?" He asked, watching as she avoided eye contact for a moment, sniffling. He could see the pain in her eyes and wanted so badly to just take it from her, to lift her burdens and take them onto himself. "What's making my girl so upset?" He asked, trying to control his own emotions, she turned her gaze upon him.

"I…" She whimpered. "I would like to amend a statement that I made previously…"

"Okay…" he said, lifting an eyebrow to listen intently, he noticed her eyes flicker away from his. He saw a flash of shame in her eyes, as they flicked back and both were once again on his. "I'm listening."

"In a moment of… confusion, I suppose I could say… perhaps I was perplexed at a particular accusation or assumption…"

"Bones. Just say it."

"I mean, if I were to put my thoughts at the moment of the statement into context, and considering that things were the way they were when I made the comment, then…"

"Bones."

"I might be able to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why I did say what I said…"

"I'm excited about it too, Bones." Booth blurted out, her eyes focused on his as her mouth hung open slightly. "I know that you have a lot going on, and I know that this is going to be hard on you… but I'm excited too." He said, his own eyes beginning to mist up as a bit of air escaped her throat and she let out a slight gasp. "You don't need to be ashamed for saying that you didn't want a child right now, that's fine… you didn't know."

"But after you mentioned it, I re analyzed my behavior, changes that my body seemed to be making, but I was afraid that it was just a psychosomatic response… I had made an appointment for tomorrow to see my physician." She swallowed.

"So you suspected?"

"I… surmised…" She said, using her words clearly. "That there were enough consistencies with my behavior in comparison to when I became pregnant with Antonia… even though…"

"Even though?"

"With Antonia, I couldn't go a day without becoming incredibly sick. I was almost hospitalized early on due to dehydration."

"Maybe it's because you were so busy hanging out in sunny Guatemala." He said with a smarmy smile that left her jaw hanging open again. "Sorry… Cam told me… You could have told me our daughter was already a world traveler." He said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't think it was pertinent." She said, her brow furrowed in irritation. "Besides… I had plenty of water with me… I had my own bottled water delivered each week, and… why do you care? Antonia is in fine health."

"I was just teasing you, Bones." He said. "Geez, give an anthropologist a cookie…"

"I don't know what that means." She said, her brow furrowing again.

"Don't worry about it." He whispered, chuckling to himself.

"Booth?" She said, swallowing hard as she held his hand a bit tighter, he had complete attention on her as he bent closer, resting his forehead on hers.

"Hmm…?" He hummed, their eyes communicating without their lips moving for a moment.

"I am honored, and excited… and a little bit scared…"

"I…"

"Shh…" She scolded, tugging his hand. "But we're going to do this together." She whispered. "The right way." She swallowed as she took a slow, deep breath. "I want to have your baby, Booth." She said, watching his eyes fill with tears as she spoke. "I want to have you by my side for every single step of this… I need you more now than I have ever needed anyone in my entire life… and if you ever tell anyone that I said that to you…. I will…"

"Your secret is safe with me, Bones." He smiled, letting his tears drip onto her cheek as he watched her eyes smile at him.

"I need you to do me a favor though." She whispered.

"Anything."

"Stop feeling guilty… stop worrying about me, about silly, trivial things…"

"Like you walking again?" He asked, laughing nervously as he closed his eyes, sniffling in the tears that were falling freely.

"Yeah." She said, shaking her head against his. "Stop worrying, and just help me be positive, okay?"

"I'll try my best." He said, his eyes clearer as they stared into hers.

"I never expect less than that from you, Booth." She replied. "You've never given me reason to think that it's even possible."

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, Bones."

"I know you are." She said, watching him sit back a little in the seat, he kept his hand in hers. He sucked in a deep breath and watched her for a moment, his other hand lifting to wipe the tears from his cheeks, as he attempted to recover from the emotion. Slowly, he let it out, she watched his lower lip slide into his mouth as his tongue ran across it. "What are you thinking?" She whispered.

"Toni." He said.

"Let's get the situation with my back figured out first… Have you talked to her?"

"She's with Hodgins and Angela." He said, giving her a thoughtful look. "Max showed up with her, and… you know what, you don't need to know the details…"

"Booth?" She said, confused.

"She's with Angela and Hodgins."

"What did you tell her?" She asked, swallowing hard, she could see the worry in his eyes.

"I told her you were at work." He said, his eyes flickering to her eyes, he waited for her response.

"I would suspect that she is not going to be very happy learning that her daddy is a…"

"Liar? " Booth provided.

"Prevaricator." She said, giving Booth a pointed glance.

"See… just because you use a fancier word, doesn't make me any less of a jerk." He replied.

"You're going to have to tell her the truth, you just weren't ready. It's okay." She replied.

"No, it's not okay. I don't like lying to her." He sighed, as his phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the number for a split second before flipping open the phone. "Booth." He said, suddenly covering his ear, he bent over to listen. "What? Hodgins… I can hardly hear… I'll be right there." He said, letting out a sigh as he flipped the phone closed and stood up. "Looks like the truth is coming sooner than we thought."

"What's going on?"

"Antonia is having a meltdown." Booth sighed. "I'm going to go pick her up." He said, walking toward the door. "Hey."

"What?"

"I love you… both of you." He winked as he watched her sleepy smile. "Get some rest… I'll be back before you know it." He said softly, tapping the door as he disappeared into the hallway on his way to rescue his little girl.


	25. Sticks and Stones Will Break Your Bones

Booth pulled up to the gate to Hodgins and Angela's house, pushing the code to come through, he drove down the long driveway and arrived at the side of their car, where Hodgins stood with the door open, desperately pleading with Antonia to stop crying.

"Ant… come on, little one… please?" Hodgins begged, looking up as Booth approached. "Thank God you're here. She won't get out of the car."

"Did you try prying her out of the seat with a crowbar?" Booth asked, watching the little girl crying, her eyes lifting to see her daddy, the wailing stopped as she attempted to catch her breath. She had tears rolling down her anger reddened face, and her hands were gripping the toy in her hands so tightly that her knuckles were nearly white.

"Daddy!" She sobbed, pulling at the car seat, she couldn't unbuckle it fast enough. He reached across her and unbuckled the seat, and instantly her arms were around him, holding on with every ounce of strength she had. Her grip was tight, and he pulled himself from the car as he looked to Hodgins, his newly attached little girl appendage dangling from his neck.

"You alright there?" Hodgins asked, as Booth held his little girl in his arms as she sniffled into his shoulder.

"I am really… really… really sorry." Booth said, glancing to Angela as she stood up out of the car. "What….happened?"

"We drove past the Jeffersonian." Hodgins replied. "She wanted to go see Doctor B., and we kept driving." He said giving Booth an amused look.

"Booth, you have to tell her." Angela said, watching Booth's eyes widen as he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"I'm going to have to." He said, sighing in resignation. "You guys have a good night. I'm sorry about all of the trouble."

"She's no trouble, Booth…" Angela replied.

"No… no, it's fine." He replied, making it clear that he really didn't mind coming to get her. "It's fine. I'll keep you guys in the loop." He said, giving them a friendly wave as he walked toward his own car, holding the tiny body against his own as he opened the back door. He helped her into her car seat as she held tightly to her stuffed elephant, and let him buckle her up. He didn't say anything to her as he wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her forehead, climbing from the back seat he closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. He looked up to see Hodgins and Angela standing by their car as they watched him. "She'll be okay." He sighed, though his words did not sound hopeful. "Thanks guys." He said, sighing as he climbed into the driver's seat and turned the car around, disappearing down the driveway without another word.

* * *

The drive was almost silent, but for the little sniffles coming from the back seat. He waited until they were a little bit away from the house before he spoke. "Are you okay?" He asked, an odd question to ask her, though he knew that she was very easy to rile up sometimes.

"Uh huh." She nodded, looking out the window.

"You were crying because you wanted to see mommy?" He asked, watching her head nod, her hand swiped the tears from her cheek.

"Yeah." She whimpered. "I need to see mommy."

"Why do you need to see mommy so badly?" Booth asked, looking back at the little girl as she sniffled.

"Mommy always calls…mommy always calls… I miss mommy. I need to see mommy." She said, her voice high and pitiful, she continued to watch out the window as Booth drove them. "I need to see her."

Booth became quiet, listening to the sad, soft sound of her voice, his chest was aching, his head was beginning to pound, and his stomach twisted with each turn toward the hospital. When he pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, he looked into the rear view mirror and saw the little girl's eyes on his. "Daddy, where are we going?" She whispered.

Booth swallowed as he parked the car, not answering her right now, he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Do you trust me?" He asked, turning his head, the little girl nodded her head. "Do you love me?" He asked, watching her brow furrow as she nodded her head. "You promise?" He asked.

"Yes." She swallowed, noting the sadness in his eyes, she breathed deeply. "Where's mommy?"

He didn't answer her question and simply got out of the car, closing his door, he opened the back door and reached over to her to unbuckle her seatbelt. "Come on." He said, pulling her into his arms as he cuddled the little pajama clad girl against him and held her stuffed elephant to his chest as well as he pulled her from the SUV and closed the door behind him.

"Daddy?" She whimpered.

"You said you trust me." He said softly. "We're partners still, right? You're my little girl?" He asked, confusing her a little bit. She had no idea why he kept asking her for this constant validation.

"Yes." She said, swallowing, she looked back toward the car, but Booth continued to walk toward the hospital, the same place she had been at earlier. "Daddy, do you have a booboo again? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, baby." He replied as they stepped in through the doors and into the lobby.

"Daddy, why are we at the doctor?" She asked, her eyes on her father as he just walked with her through the lobby. "Daddy?" She asked again. "Daddy, please?" She said, very concerned for him as he sat in a chair on the far end of the lobby, away from everyone. He settled her on his lap and tried his very best to keep his emotions from her, though she could immediately see the fear in his eyes. "Is mommy in heaven?" She whispered.

"No!" He exclaimed suddenly, making her jump, her eyes widened. "No… no, mommy is not in heaven… she's not… I promise." He said, hugging her closely.

"Then why are we here? Did a bad guy hurt mommy?"

"No." He shook his head. "Do you remember that time you jumped on daddy's back… and he yelled really loud and you got scared?" He asked.

"Mm… yes." She whispered, swallowing hard, she seemed very nervous with where Booth was going.

"Well… mommy… she and daddy were at work together… and daddy kind of… accidentally made her… yell really loud." He whispered, listening to her gasp, her jaw dropped.

"You hurt mommy?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"It was an accident." He replied.

"Is that why she didn't call me?" She whispered, swallowing, her lower lip slipping into her mouth.

"That's why she didn't call you." He said, feeling her sliding from his lap. "Hey…" He said as he felt her pulling his hands off her as she stood up beside him, looking at him. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I want to see my mommy."

"Baby…"

"I am not your baby. I want to see my mommy, please." She said stubbornly.

"Toni."

"My name is Antonia." She said. "Take me to see my mama." She said, sucking in a deep breath. "I want to see my mama. Now." She said definitively.

Booth sighed as he stood up, reaching for her hand, she turned away from him, refusing to hold his hand. "Please hold my hand." He replied.

"No." She said stubbornly, as he watched her glare at him. There was just a pause, and he sighed, walking slowly toward the elevator without another word, she followed alongside him refusing to look at him, refusing to hold his hand, and refusing to say another word to him.

They reached the hospital room and Booth led her down the hallway as she walked very focused, very upset, and extremely quietly with him. He had gotten a couple of looks, people smiling as this tiny girl walked beside the man, her face holding a determined scowl that meant nothing but business.

Booth stopped outside the door, looking down at the little girl, she faced the door waiting for him to open it as he crouched down to look at her. "Antonia, please look at me."

"No." She said stubbornly.

"We are not going to go in and see mommy until you can turn around and listen to me."

"I don't want to talk to you." She huffed.

"Turn around now, or we're going to go home without seeing Mommy." He said, listening to her indignant huff, he watched as she turned around and faced him. "You're not going to just get your way by being stubborn like this, Antonia. I am an adult, you need to listen when an adult speaks to you."

"I am mad at you."

"Angry or not, I am still your father… and when I speak to you, that is what goes… got it?"

"I don't want you to be my daddy. I want you to be invisible. I want you to be Deuce. Deuce wouldn't hurt mommy. Deuce would go to heaven before he would hurt mommy." She said angrily, her words stabbing him sharply. "I wish you were Deuce." She glared.

He was at a loss for words for a moment, the anger in her eyes was so real that it felt like she had reached into his chest and pulled out his beating heart. This little girl that he would do anything for was standing in front of him wishing that he'd just disappear, and that's what he wanted to do, just make all of the pain go away. "You can't hug mommy, Antonia… she is very hurt… and there are going to be tubes and wires… you have to be very, very careful…"

"I know." She replied. "When Deuce was in the hospital, I had to be careful."

"Right." He nodded.

"I'm not stupid." She said, turning around, she faced the door, her nose but an inch from it as she waited for him to open it.

"No." He shook his head. "You are by no means stupid." He said, standing up, he grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door to the room. As soon as there was enough room for her to get inside, she took a step, but no more into the room, followed by Booth, who closed the door behind them.

The bed was set up a little farther toward the corner, and another bed had been brought in to sit a few feet beside it. He assumed that Temperance had requested it for him and Antonia. She was lying in the same position, flat on her back, her head resting on a flat pillow, her arms to her side, and her eyes were closed. He took a step forward, expecting Antonia to step forward as well, but she did the opposite, stepping backwards onto his feet, she didn't apologize, only reached her hands back and gripped his legs as she stood on his feet.

"It's okay." Booth said softly, touching her head, tenderly, the little girl looked up at him and he could see the frightened look in her eyes. This move showed that despite her intense anger and hurtful words, he was still her protector, and it warmed him a bit to know that she felt safe with him, despite the circumstances.

Temperance remained motionless and Booth and Antonia stood quietly together for a moment, their bodies in a strange limbo as Antonia tried to decide whether she wanted to brave this, or flee. It was then that Temperance opened her eyes, sensing the eyes that were staring at her, a tender smile lifted on her lips. Antonia couldn't see her mother's face, but Booth could, and he watched her attempt to lift her head.

"There you are." She said groggily.

"Mama?" Antonia whimpered.

"Baby?" Temperance whispered, her hand sliding to the edge of the bed as she turned her head. She wiggled her fingers.

"Mama?" Antonia said again, sliding her feet from Booth's, she released his leg.

"Antonia…" Temperance whispered. "Booth?"

Booth then, without thinking, stepped forward and lifted the little girl into his arms, and a sudden struggle ensued. "Let me go!" She exclaimed stubbornly.

"Antonia, stop…" Booth replied as he stepped toward the bed.

"Stop! You stop!" Antonia exclaimed as she kicked at Booth, sending two solid kicks to his ribs, she managed to send her heel directly into one of the welts from the gunshots, and he yelped in pain, sending her in a near tumble to the ground, where she unceremoniously and dramatically threw herself to the floor and began to cry.

Booth wanted to lift her to her feet and stopped, hearing Temperance's voice. "Booth, just let her…She's tired… she's stubborn." Temperance said as the little girl continued her fit on the floor, Booth gave Temperance a pitiful glance. "Just…don't worry about it." She said, her eyes a bit clearer as Antonia realized that neither adult was paying attention to her little fit, she sat on the floor stubbornly. "I had them bring a bed in for you." Temperance said softly.

"I don't think I'll be sleeping much." He whispered.

"You're going to sleep, Booth." Temperance replied. "You need your rest."

"Don't talk to him." Antonia said suddenly, standing up, wiping her tears. "He hurt you." She exclaimed, walking to the bed, she took her mother's hand, standing on her tiptoes, Temperance still couldn't meet her daughter's eyes, and it frustrated her.

"Don't be like that to your daddy." Temperance said, squeezing the little girl's hand, she struggled to try to look at her, as Booth pulled the chair beside him up toward the bed. "He did not hurt me."

"He said…" She said, looking up at Booth with a glare. "He said he hurt you."

"It was an accident. He was protecting mommy, and it was an accident. You and daddy have to work together, baby. Mommy is going to need your help… and you can only help if you and daddy are on the same side."

Antonia sucked in a deep breath. "No."

"Booth?" Temperance said, noting the thoughtful and sad look on his face, she couldn't quite see Antonia, and she needed to make it very clear to her that her current behavior would not be tolerated. He looked into her eyes and smiled just slightly, enough for her to see the sparkle in his eyes as he tried to remain strong. "Tell her it was an accident. Tell her the truth."

"I told her the truth, Bones." He said, leaning down to smooth her hair back from her face, he kissed her forehead.

"I want to see mommy." Antonia pouted. "I want to see her like you can."

"You want to give mommy a kiss?" Booth asked, glancing to the little girl, she nodded her head. "If I pick you up to help… are you going to kick me?"

She thought for a moment. "No."

"Are you going to bite me?" He asked, hearing Temperance's voice in his ear suddenly.

"Do not plant ideas in her head, please?" She whispered.

"Good point." He said, standing up straighter, he looked down at the little girl as she seemed to be trying to join him in a staring contest. He crossed his arms, and she did the same, her eyes narrowing as the challenge continued.

"Little girls do not bite." She snapped definitively. "Biting is unsanitary."

"Why does this make me think she's had a conversation like this with you in the past?" Booth asked Temperance.

"Just bring me my little girl, Booth." Brennan whined as he smiled and leaned down, taking the now grateful little girl into his arms, she reflexively gripped his arm as he held her, and when her eyes met her mothers, Temperance could see the flash of fear in her eyes. "There is my baby girl." She whispered.

"Mama…" She whimpered as Booth carefully held her over the woman in the bed, her little hand reaching out to touch her mother's cheek. She kissed her on the cheek, and Booth held her as Temperance reached up and ran her fingers through her daughter's hair as their forehead's touched. He could hear Temperance sniffle, and his heart was breaking for her, knowing that all she wanted to do in that moment was hold her little girl. "Don't cry, mama." She said softly as she felt herself being pulled away by Booth. "I'm not done saying hi to Mommy yet…" Antonia whimpered.

"Well you're getting to be too big to hold that way for long." Booth said as he lifted her upright and into his arms. "Mommy can see you right here… okay?"

A light sigh, and a sideways glance as she felt Temperance reach up and touch her foot. "I guess." She shrugged.

Booth could see the tears in Temperance's eyes, and the way her eyes were moving over their little girl as she playfully tickled the little girl's ankle. "Mommy…" She giggled, leaning her head into Booth as he whispered a 'thank you' to her. The little girl's giggle made her smile as Booth leaned down and kissed Temperance. He stood up and sighed, glancing to the other bed.

"Well…" Booth said, clearing his throat. "It looks like Mommy wants to have a little sleepover at the hospital tonight…" He said as he carried Antonia toward the bed. "How does that sound to you?"

"I can stay here with mommy?"

"We'll both stay here." He said, setting the little girl on the bed, she watched her mother's head turn in their direction, and with the height of the bed, she could see her face. "Is that okay with you?"

"Uh huh." She nodded.

"Okay…" He said. "I think mommy is getting sleepy though… so you should say goodnight, okay?"

"Mm…."

"I love you, baby." Temperance whispered.

"I love you, Mommy." She replied automatically, her voice confident and a little less scared. She lifted her palm to her lips and kissed it, blowing Temperance a kiss across the room. "Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams, baby." She said, watching Antonia lay on the pillow that Booth had set for her so that she could see the bed, he covered her tenderly with the thin blanket that the hospital had provided, lifting the rail on the side of the bed. Booth leaned down and kissed her head tenderly as she cuddled around her stuffed elephant and sighed.

"I love you, baby." Booth whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Deuce." She replied, sighing softly into her pillow as she began to drift to sleep. Booth turned reluctantly and walked to Temperance's bed, watching her follow him as he leaned over the side of her bed.

"What was that all about?" Temperance whispered.

"Nothing for you to worry about." He replied. "Get some sleep, Bones… you know those nurses are going to be in here all night long harassing you." He said, watching the curve of a smile on her lips as he reached up and switched off the main light in the room.

"You get some sleep too, Booth." She swallowed. "For me?"

"That's manipulative." He said with a sly grin.

"Oh, I know." She replied, accepting a tender kiss on the lips. "Where do you think she gets it from?" She said, listening to his gentle laugh before she watched him move from sight and toward the uncomfortable chair in the corner, where she knew for a fact he would try his best to rest, and do all he could to keep watch over his family.


	26. Pressure and Pain

Temperance's eyes were on the man sitting uncomfortably in the chair beside her bed. His head was turned away from her, and his large frame was turned in an awkward way that she knew was probably causing him a lot of pain. She could feel the muscles of her back twitching, and with each pulse of muscle, a shot of pain rang through her body. She bit her lower lip as the latest shot of pain moved through her body and felt the pain in her lip, her fists clenching as she tried not to call out or whimper. She didn't want to alarm her daughter on the one side, and she most definitely didn't want to alarm the man in the chair.

Suddenly, her foot kicked involuntarily, and that movement was enough to make her cry out in pain, and as low and contained as she tried to keep her voice, Booth sat bolt upright in his chair.

"Bones." He said, fully awake and alert, he was on his feet and at her bedside. He looked down at her and could see the pain furrowed brow, the tears in her eyes. "God, Bones… are you okay? Sweetie…"

"I'm… fine." She whimpered.

"You're not fine… you're definitely not fine, tell me what's going on…" He whispered as he reached for the nurse call button.

"No!" She exclaimed, reaching up to grab his hand, her eyes turned determined. "Don't call the nurse… I'll be okay. Please, Booth."

"Bones, you're in pain." He whispered.

"Yes." She replied. "Just… it'll pass… just let it pass." She whimpered as she gripped the hand that was now in hers, she closed her eyes tightly as she felt the wave of muscle spasms in her back, the pain coursing through her body as she tried to focus on something, anything.

"Bones…" He whispered, leaning down to kiss her face, he rested his forehead on hers. "I need to help you… please let me help you."

"No." Temperance whimpered, her breathing labored as she released the breath she had been holding. "I am okay… I'm okay." She whispered, the grip on his hand loosened as she looked up at him and could see the fear in his eyes. "I am experiencing spasms in the region of the injury… they're causing my legs to spasm as well, and without control of my legs, it's impossible for me to control."

"Your body is hurting you?"

"Yes." She whispered, trying to control her breathing, her eyes flickering to the little girl who lay sound asleep in the next bed. "I don't want her to see me in this much pain." She whimpered.

"She's sleeping… it's okay." He whispered.

"Booth." She whimpered, her leg twitching again, she gripped his hand, and he could feel through that grip the amount of pain she was experiencing. "Booth…" She whimpered again.

"I'm going to push the button." He said, reaching up with his other hand, she cried out again.

"Booth, please!" She exclaimed, her eyes opening, he could see the pain in her eyes, the whites of her eyes were bloodshot, the blue iris' bright with pain and fear. "Please… please don't…" She panted.

"Bones, you are in pain… they will help you."

"I don't want them." She whimpered. "I don't want them to help me." She whispered. "Please, I'm begging you… please don't push the button." She shook her head. "They don't care about the baby, Booth."

"That's…" He paused for a moment. "That's not true, Bones."

"It's true." Temperance whimpered. "Booth, they don't care… don't call them." She begged. "Just… hold my hand."

"Bones, they can help you."

"No." She whispered, watching his hand tremble over the call button. "It's okay now…"

"Are you lying to me?" He whispered.

"No." She whimpered. "I need to be able to…" She grunted through another wave of pain. "I need to be able to deal with the pain, Booth. I need to be able to control the pain. Promise me that you won't push the button."

"Bones, I can't promise." 

"Booth, please…" She whimpered. "Trust me, please. Promise me you won't push it unless I tell you its okay."

He watched her for a moment, the pain that lined her features was making him feel so uncomfortable, so filled with pain himself, that he didn't want to say yes. He didn't want to promise her. "Bones…"

"Booth, please?" She whimpered.

"I will not press the button, Bones… unless you say it's alright… but that won't stop me from leaving this room to find a nurse or a doctor to help you." He said, feeling her hand grip his tighter again, though for a short moment before releasing it. "You have to be honest with yourself, Bones. If it hurts, you need help."

"But the baby…" She whimpered.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Bones. We're not going to give in… and even if they don't care? I care… you care… and that's what matters." He said, watching her leg twitch again, only slightly. "I'm sorry that I did this to you, Bones."

"Stop." She whispered, tears coming to her eyes as he stood straighter, looking down at her, he looked surprised. "Stop blaming yourself right now. You were doing your job." She said, her voice was full of emotion. "You can't do this if you're blaming yourself… you can't take care of me, and take care of Antonia, if all you're doing is putting your feelings and thoughts on the back burner for ours." She whispered, the fire in her eyes was igniting, and he almost wanted to smile at the stubbornness he found there. "I need you now more than I ever needed you before, Booth."

"But Bones, you wouldn't be here if I hadn't…"

"No, you're right… I'd be dead…" She whispered. "Harding was at the door… and you were with me… if you hadn't been there to tell me to get down, I would have never have seen the suspect in the woods, and I would have been shot, Booth… I would be dead if it wasn't for you. You saved my life." She whispered. "Thank you for saving my life." She whimpered.

"Hey…" He whispered as he leaned over her and pressed his forehead to hers, he could feel her hand lift to touch his cheek. "It's okay…"

"Just please… stop blaming yourself. It happened, it's over… now I need to recover and return to the way things are supposed to be." She whispered. "Take care of our little girl, Booth…" She said, glancing to the sleeping child in the next bed. "You need to tell her the truth."

"I cannot tell her the truth, Bones." He whispered. "I cannot do that to her… she has more worries than an adult should have… she shouldn't have to worry about a bad man hurting her mommy."

"But its better that she thinks her father did it?" Temperance asked, swallowing hard as Booth's gaze moved to the girl and back to her.

"I told her it was an accident… that was a partial truth." He whispered. "The shooting part? She doesn't need to know that… but I did tumble backwards and slam you into a tree. I will give her time… she'll accept that I'm clumsy in time." He said, winking at Temperance as she shook her head slightly.

"But you're not."

"No."

"Then she will see right through you."

"Bones, she's three years old."

"And she can read people better than you think she can, Booth. She knows there's more. She wants you to be honest with her, she needs you to be honest with her… because more than the truth about this, I'm worried about how she's going to react to a new baby." Temperance said softly, closing her eyes against another twinge of pain.

"Right… new baby…" Booth let out a puff of air as the thought bounced around in his head. "I vote on waiting a month or two." He said, lifting his eyebrows in question. "What do you think?"

Temperance couldn't help but give him a slight smile at his suggestion; the hopeful look in his eyes replaced the fear filled look. "We'll reassess when we know more about my condition, and the health of the baby, okay?" Temperance whispered.

"What baby?" The voice was clear as anything, and coming from directly behind them as both adults closed their eyes simultaneously, hoping that the voice they heard was just in their imaginations. "Mama? What baby?" Antonia insisted.


	27. Comes and Goes

_"Mama?" The tiny voice insisted. Booth turned around and locked eyes with the little girl, her head lifted from the pillow as she watched him curiously. _

_"Hey, princess." Booth said, turning to walk toward her, he could see her mother's defiance in her eyes. She would not let this rest until she had an answer that she found suitable. Booth sat on the edge of the bed, lifting himself up onto the uncomfortably thin mattress and watched the little girl's eyes follow his._

_"Daddy…" She whispered sleepily. "What baby?"_

_Booth looked to Brennan, and her eyes showed the pain of her injury. He knew that it would just be best if he got everything out in the open, albeit in a completely roundabout way. He also knew that he couldn't lie, not really lie. He knew for a fact that like dogs, children could smell fear, especially from someone they trust. "What do you think Mommy was talking about?"_

_"I don't know." She yawned, her brow furrowed with confusion. "Mommy said baby… is mommy having a baby?"_

_"Would that be a bad thing?" Booth asked._

_"I don't know." Antonia whispered, looking to her mother. "Mommy, are you going to be okay?" She whimpered, watching as her mother's eyes filled with tears, she found herself sitting up, her lip trembling slightly as she crawled toward Booth, her fingers clinging to his shirt, he pulled her into his arms and she sat in his lap for a moment as she watched her mother lying in the bed. _

_"Mommy is going to be just fine, little girl." Temperance whispered, her eyes darting to Booth, who seemed grateful for her optimism. "Aren't you sleepy, baby?" Temperance asked, watching the little girl yawn again as she rested her head on her daddy's arm, allowing him to cuddle her a little, she seemed to have forgotten her earlier anger. She nodded as her eyes drifted closed, and Booth rocked her just enough to make it a complete sleep. Temperance watched their daughter as she slept; her concern was obvious as she looked very thoughtful, her brow furrowing not in pain, but concern._

_"What's on your mind, Bones?" He asked, the rocking of his arms was constant, if not involuntary._

_"I… need you to do something for me."_

_"Anything."_

_"I need you to take her home." She whispered._

_"Now?"_

_"Yes." Temperance whispered. "I need you to take her home… she needs to sleep in her own bed, she needs normalcy, stability. She needs to feel secure, Booth."_

_"Bones, I am not leaving you."_

_"Booth, I need you to do this for me." She whispered, her eyes begging him to obey._

_"Listen." He replied, rocking the little girl in his arms so tenderly as he watched Temperance across the room struggle with the constant pain. "Until you can admit that you need the help of a doctor or nurse… until you can rely on the people who are getting paid to take care of you… I am going to be in this room."_

_"Booth." She groaned. _

_"No." He shook his head. "Toni will be fine for tonight… sleeping on this bed here, she isn't going to be traumatized any more than she already has been tonight, okay? I'm not going to drag her to the car, secure her in a car seat just to get her home and drag her back into the apartment. This is fine… we're both fine." He said, watching her eyes flicker to the little girl and then back to him. "I am not leaving this room, Bones… unless I'm going to go get a doctor, or go to the bathroom."_

_"Booth…"_

_"Stop, Bones… just stop, please. Please just rest." He said as he leaned forward slightly and flipped the main light switch off in the room. _

_"Why can't you just do that for me, Booth?"_

_"We will see how you're doing tomorrow… reassess, okay? She has both of us here, she'll be okay." He whispered. "I promise."_

_"We will reassess tomorrow." She replied sleepily, watching him continue to sit on the edge of the bed, the tiny girl sleeping soundly in his arms. "Are you just going to sit there all night with her?"_

_"I'm going to lie down." He said, smiling as he shook his head. "I just… want to make sure she's sleeping before I move her around too much." He said, watching Temperance's eyes follow him as he kicked his shoes off and lifted himself onto the bed. "Will you feel better if I stay on the bed over here with her?"_

_"Yes." She whispered._

_"And the pain? How is the pain?" He whispered._

_"Comes and goes." She whispered._

_"If you need anything, Bones… I'm right here."_

_"I know that." She whispered. "You always were right there."_

_"And I always intend to be there in the future." He replied as he watched her sleepy smile. "I love you, Bones."_

_"I love you, Booth." She whispered, her eyes fluttering closed as Booth held the little girl close to his heart, her calm and sleepy sounds filling his ears and heart as he kissed the top of her head._

* * *

**Approximately a week later-**

"Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?" Antonia exclaimed as she ran around the corner toward the kitchen out of breath, she stood before him wearing her new autumn dress, out of breath and panting.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"The doorbell ding donged and Mommy told me to get you." She pointed, sending her little finger poking into his leg.

"The doorbell rang?"

"I just said that." She huffed impatiently as he shook his head and lifted her into his arms as he covered the pot on the stove.

"Well then, that must be the first of our Thanksgiving feast guests." He said with a wide eyed smile that made the little girl wiggle with excitement. He walked through the kitchen door and glanced to Temperance, who was sitting uncomfortably on the reclining chair. He opened his mouth to say something, and she glared.

"Make one inappropriate remark about how I didn't get up and open the door, and I'll be sure that this is your last Thanksgiving." She said with a sweet smile that made him laugh.

"I wouldn't do that, baby." He said, dropping a kiss on her head as he walked past toward the door, the little girl holding him tightly as he looked through the peephole. He flipped the lock and stepped backwards, and was immediately enveloped in a hug by at least one person who was at the door. Angela bumped him a bit with her belly and hugged Booth. "Hey, Angela." He laughed, as Hodgins shook his head and laughed as Angela gave Antonia a quick kiss on the cheek and pushed past Booth to find Temperance.

"We brought a pie." He shrugged, glancing toward the kitchen.

"Pie?" Antonia exclaimed, holding her arms out, she wiggled her fingers. "Gimme, gimme…" She said as Booth laughed.

"After dinner, pie monster." Booth said as he traded Hodgins for the pie, the little girl, who watched with a pouty lip as the focus of her attention was quickly carted off to the kitchen by her father.

Hodgins walked around to the couch where Angela was sitting on the chair across from Temperance talking, and he swung Antonia around onto his lap as she squealed in laughter. "Hey, Doctor B… how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing just fine." She replied stiffly as Angela let out a slight laugh. "There were no fractures, thankfully, however the disk is herniated, and if I'm not careful, it could rupture… but I'm doing much better than can be expected. I should recover quite quickly." She said in a clinical tone, watching Angela shake her head and smile.

"Sweetie, you just came home yesterday. You need to take it easy… Booth said you are in a lot of pain."

"Booth is a lot of pain." Temperance said, her eyes flickering to the man entering the room, he smiled when he heard what she said, and shook his head.

"She got movement back in her legs the next day… it took a day or two to steady her, but with the back brace and strict…" He said, emphasizing that last word. "Strict prescription of bed rest and physical therapy… she should be able to go back to work on limited duty in a few weeks."

"I don't need limited duty, Booth."

"She's right." Booth nodded as Antonia slipped from Hodgins' lap, she walked toward Angela. "She shouldn't be going back to work at all." He replied, his eyes on Temperance as she glared at him, his challenging stare made her smile just slightly as she shook her head, and Angela reached across to take her hand.

"I'm just glad you're doing better, sweetie." Angela said as Antonia approached her warily. "And I hope that the little lady bug has been helping."

"I'm very helpful, thank you very much." Antonia replied, reaching her hand across to Angela, her hand touched Angela's belly. "Big A… you are getting so very fat."

"Okay, young lady…" Booth said as she reached down and lifted the little girl as everyone laughed.

"What, Daddy… she is!" She exclaimed innocently as Angela shook her head.

"It's okay, Booth." She said, watching the little girl look between her father and Angela, looking for some kind of consensus.

"She's not fat… she's beautiful…" Hodgins replied as Angela blushed and Booth rolled his eyes.

"We talked about this, Antonia." Temperance replied. "The baby is growing, remember?"

"Yes." Antonia nodded. "And then when it gets too big… Big A is going to explode and the baby is going to come out and play with me."

"See… that's not what we explained to you at all." Booth replied, glancing to Temperance who just shook her head and smiled.

"Hey, it's close enough for me." Hodgins laughed as Angela gave him a playful glare.

"See." Angela said, looking up at Booth. "Now we know where she gets these ridiculous ideas." She said as the doorbell rang.

"Why am I not surprised?" Booth asked with a laugh as he walked toward the door with Antonia again, to welcome another group of friends to join them for their holiday.


	28. Helping Hands

Before long, the house was full of people, and the volume in the room had increased tenfold. Booth stood in the kitchen alone as everyone milled around the living room together, enjoying the company of family and friends surrounding them. He opened the oven and took in the smell of the turkey in the oven, nearly jumping out of his skin when he realized that someone was directly behind him. He turned quickly, making sure not to punch the person who had startled him, and he sucked in a deep breath. "Jesus, Max, you scared the crap out of me!" Booth exclaimed.

The older man let a smile spread over his face as he watched the color return to Booth's face. "Think you could take me?" Max laughed as he gave him a serious expression.

"Hey, I apologized for the other day in the hospital. I was just a little bit stressed out, okay?" He said as he lifted the lid on one of the pans on the stove.

"Yeah, I get it… and you see where I was coming from, I got ya." He nodded. "She's looking better."

"I think she's feeling better…" Booth said, hearing the pounding of little feet as Antonia came running into the room. "Hey, hey… no running." He said, catching her as she hid behind his legs.

"Uncle Russ says he's gonna get me." She said innocently, a smile on her face telling him all he needed to know.

"Well, you're safe with me." Booth winked as he lifted her up.

"So is Antonia excited that she's going to be a big sister?" Max asked, catching the ghost white expression on Booth's face as Antonia's attention went directly to her father.

"She doesn't… know anything about…"

"When am I going to be a big sister?" She asked, her eyes widening brightly as she watched her father and grandfather stare at one another.

"Soon enough." Booth said with a wink. "Now why don't you go in and keep an eye on your mommy and make sure she's not doing too much moving around." He said, watching her smile light up his face. "Tell everyone that dinner is almost ready." He said, letting the little girl slide down to the floor, she nodded and ran off into the living room as Booth turned toward the stove again.

"Geez, Booth… I'm really sorry."

"I'm pretty sure we told you at the hospital that she knows nothing about the baby." Booth whispered.

"She's going to be figuring things out soon enough, Booth." Max said, a smile still on his face, though Booth found absolutely no amusement in the situation.

"Bones and I just think that the subject is something we need to tread very lightly on." Booth said, trying to remain calm.

"Booth, you really need to lighten up, you know? I mean… you spend three years dead, and its like your personality was buried, and the rest of you lived on. Antonia has every right to know that her mother is having another child. She's going to be affected also."

Booth turned and looked Max in the eyes. "Thank you for the fatherly advice, Max. I'll take it into consideration… file it between the note that says to abandon your kids, and murder people." He said as he turned back to the stove. Max was about to say something more when the door to the kitchen opened again, and Antonia ran back inside, instantly lifted up by Booth without a second of notice that she was even on her way. "Did you do your job?" He asked, holding her so that her nose was touching his.

"Yes." She replied happily. "Mommy says she wants to talk to you."

"Did she tell you what she wants?" He asked, giving the little girl a scrutinizing glance, and she shrugged at him.

"Um… no."

"I'll be in there in a minute… you can help me get the table all set? Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Yes!" She said as she giggled.

Booth looked up at Max and to his little girl. "What I'm trying to say, Max." Booth said softly. "Is that you're right… I'm not the same man I was four years ago. I'm a better man. I have a family to protect, and I have responsibilities that go above and beyond any responsibilities that i had in the past. I don't know if you think I am going to walk away, or what. I am in this farther than you will ever understand. I'm not going anywhere." He said, watching Max's eyes carefully. Booth's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to marry your daughter, Max."

"Is this you asking for permission?" Max asked with a bit of a sarcastic chuckle.

"I don't need to ask for your permission, and if I were to do that, and Bones were to find out... you and I both know that I'd be a dead man." Booth said pointedly, watching the older man's head nod. "Everything is fine with us, Max. The only thing we have to worry about is dry turkey... and that's what we'll have if Ace doesn't get here soon." He said with a smile as Antonia watched his every move in the kitchen as he stepped back and opened the oven, the aroma of turkey filling the room.

"Mmm... turkey!" Antonia exclaimed as Booth laughed, and glanced to Max, who made his way from the kitchen toward the living room to visit with the other guests.

Booth let the little girl to the floor and to the cupboard, watching as she stood waiting for him. "Okay… I need you to… put a napkin next to everyone's spot at the table…"

"Napkins? Napkins are for babies… I want to do the plates…"

"We'll do them together." He said, his eyes widening as he gave her a funny face to make her laugh.

"Cuz if we drop one then we won't have enough, and somebody doesn't get turkey."

"Right." Booth nodded, giving her a strange look as he reached up into the cupboard to get the plates, just as the door to the kitchen opened and Angela walked inside. She got one look at Booth reaching up into the cupboard and let out a laugh, his focus turning to the woman in the doorway. "What are you laughing at?" He asked as she shook her head.

"Nothing… I just wanted to see if you needed any help…Martha…" She laughed.

"Funny stuff there, Angela." He said, pulling the plates down as Antonia waited patiently.

"I'm helping." Antonia said happily.

"You are?"

"Daddy says I can put the plates on the table all by myself." She said, watching her daddy's eyebrow raise. "All by myself." She said again.

"Do you want me to help with that?" Angela asked, watching Booth glance to Antonia, who nodded happily.

"You're sure?" Booth asked, nodding toward her protruding belly and insinuating she might be more comfortable sitting down.

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid." She said very sweetly, and Booth laughed.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to be hearing that a lot more in the upcoming months."

"More than you know, Sweetie." Angela replied. "And probably not nearly as politely."

"I'm going to go see what Bones needs… I'll be right back to put the food on the table, and then we'll eat." He said, watching Angela smile, he walked toward the door. "And Angela… when she says 'all by herself'…"

"Yeah, I know…" Angela said with a laugh, watching Booth roll his eyes with a grin as he walked out into the living room among the crowd of guests that had invaded his home.

* * *

Booth stepped into the living room and made his way toward the chair where Temperance was sitting, greeting everyone once again as he walked through the room, filled to the brim with family and friends. Upon arrival, each had given Booth a giant hug, welcoming him back again, this being only the second time they had gotten everyone together since Booth's welcome back party months earlier.

Russ and Amy had since married and their two girls were growing up quickly, Cam and her new boyfriend, along with Michelle and her fiancée had showed up. Angela and Hodgins, naturally had arrived earliest, and of course Max. The only people that were missing were Harding, Rebecca, and Parker. They had called earlier and said they were running a bit behind, so there were no worries for Booth on that front.

He approached Temperance and knelt beside her chair, watching the smile on her face brighten when he came into view, and he knew that he wasn't in trouble. "What's up, Bones?" He whispered, his hand catching hers as she watched a bit of concern cloud his eyes.

"I just need…" She said, knowing that she hated to ask for help, he simply kissed her cheek and went to work, helping her from the chair. He held her to him as he helped her toward the bedroom and bathroom, their departure went unnoticed by everyone else.

* * *

When Temperance finished in the bathroom, she washed her hands and stepped from the bathroom carefully, still quite wobbly on her feet, she insisted she could maneuver herself, and only needed him to land on if she fell. That agreement was met with a bit of laughter, but an understanding that she needed to do things on her own if she was going to gain the strength in her back again, and maintain muscle mass in her legs while being laid up for so long.

"You doing okay?" He asked, looking up at her, she gave him a weak smile. "Everyone being around… is it too much?"

"If I said it was, are you going to ask them all to leave?" She replied, joking.

"Just say the word, Bones… and they're out on their asses." He winked as he helped her toward the bed. "Here… sit down for a second… I need to get something."

"What?" She asked, allowing him to settle her on the bed for a second, she watched him move toward her dresser. "Booth, what are you doing?" She asked, watching him open the top drawer. "Booth… those are my…"

"I'm fairly sure that there is something in here that belongs to me." He replied, opening a small box in the back of the drawer, he pulled out a small blue box.

"How did you know that was in there?" She whispered.

"You doubt my psychic abilities, Doctor Brennan?"

"You should know by now that I don't base life decisions on the random assumptions of people that look into glass orbs and tell me they can see the future."

"What would you say if I told you that I know the future?" He shrugged, kneeling before her.

"I'd say you were ridiculous." She replied.

"What if I say… that I know what your answer will be to the next question I ask?" He asked, opening the ring box, her eyes widening. "I can see that you didn't open the box."

"You asked me not to." She swallowed, her eyes meeting his as they filled with tears.

"But you had to know there was something in the box… something like this." He whispered, pulling the diamond ring from the box.

"I prefer not to jump to conclusions." She whispered, her eyes not leaving the sparkling object dangling from the tip of his fingers.

He smiled at her answer, it was just so perfectly 'her', and he could feel his heart beating faster. "I asked you in the hospital… not because I was scared, and not because it was convenient. I asked you… not because I knew you were carrying my child… or because I was worried. I asked you because I love you."

"You came back for me." She whispered.

"I came back to you." He replied. "For you… to be with you, forever." He watched her mouth open, and touched her lips with his finger. "For as long as forever is."

"Booth." She whispered.

"Now that I've come back from the dead for you… impregnated you, nearly paralyzed you,... made you Thanksgiving dinner… will you do one simple thing? Will you marry me?"

"When?"

"It doesn't matter when, Bones…just promise me you'll be with me forever."

"For as long as forever is?" She whispered.

"Right… Don't leave me hanging here, Bones." He said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Ask again…" She smiled.

"Will you marry me?"

"Of course."


	29. Running Into The Sunlight

Booth helped Temperance from the bedroom, and they walked down the hallway where Max was just opening the door to the next set of guests. The boy that walked into the apartment in front of the two adults made an immediate line to his father, grabbing him around his middle as he hugged him tightly. "I missed you." He said, looking up at his father with a smile, Booth gave him a sideways grin and waved toward Rebecca and Harding before looking down at his son again.

"You going to do that every time you see me?" Booth asked, ruffling his son's hair as Parker nodded. "Good…" He hugged him and glanced to the door to the dining room. "Well, I'm sure that the dining room crew has the table ready… why don't we take this party in there?" He said, turning to Temperance, who was balancing herself a bit against the wall, he offered his arm. "You okay?" He asked, seeing the slight smile on her face as she glanced to everyone leaving the room for the dining room.

"I'm perfect." She whispered, taking his offered arm as they followed everyone into the dining room.

* * *

Angela and Antonia had just finished setting the table when everyone, loud and boisterous began to enter the dining room. Antonia insisted on telling each person where they were going to sit, while she pointed out the things that she helped with very excitedly.

"And I put that plate, and that plate on the table all by myself." She grinned. "I didn't need help in reaching or anything!"

"Well, it looks like you're getting to be a very big girl, Miss Antonia." Cam said with a smile as the little girl smiled shyly.

"Parker!" She exclaimed, seeing the boy standing a bit awkwardly in the doorway behind the adults. "You can sit here… next to me." She exclaimed, running toward him with her hand extended. He smiled and happily took the little girl's hand as she bounced across the room happily and pulled a chair out for him. "Here, you sit there, and I'll sit here…" She said, climbing into her chair. "That's my Uncle Russ, and my Aunt Amy, and that's Emma and Haley, and that's my Oompa… and…Big A, and Uncle Bugs, and…"

"I already know them!" Parker laughed as the little girl stopped mid sentence and stared at him.

"Oh…"

"But you can tell me anyway if you want." He said, as her smile returned and she continued her chatter as everyone found his or her seat.

Booth helped Temperance to her seat and watched as Angela came out of the kitchen with a bowl of sweet potatoes. "Alright, alright… that's enough labor for you… I'll take care of the rest." Booth said as he took the bowl and nodded toward the table.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Harding asked, standing beside Rebecca's chair, he watched Booth shrug.

"Sure…" Booth said as the two men disappeared into the kitchen.

Several minutes later, plate after plate of food was revealed to the guests, who seemed impressed with both the quantity and quality of the food that was being presented. "Well, it looks like being dead for four years didn't do anything to your culinary abilities." Max joked, as there was a lull in the conversation and Booth's face darkened.

"Dad." Temperance said, her voice sounded stern and concerned. She knew the look on Booth's face, and she was not amused in the least that it had graced their presence at their family meal. "Don't."

"What, honey? I was just saying…" Max stopped with the pleading look on his daughter's face. "I'm sorry, Booth." Max said sincerely as Booth nodded his head and turned back toward the kitchen. Harding walked out of the kitchen with another bowl of mashed potatoes, and placed it on the table as he walked over to his own seat and sat down just as Booth walked through the doorway with the turkey.

There were exclamations of excitement at the presentation of the bird, and Booth was more than happy to be the one to place it on the table, his chest puffing with pride. "Daddy made that turkey with his bare hands… that's what he said!" Antonia exclaimed as everyone laughed, her expression changed to one of confusion, and then amusement when she realized everyone was just laughing and having a good time.

The conversation around the table was easy and full of happiness, and Booth was about to carve the turkey, his hand holding the carving knife and fork, when he felt a soft hand on his. His eyes moved to Temperance, and an automatic smile appeared on his face as he read the sentiment in her eyes. "I almost forgot." He said, shaking his head, and put the fork and knife down, he smiled at everyone around the table. There was family, friends, and more family, and for a moment, he was speechless. "Bones made a request…I know, go figure…" He said, rolling his eyes as everyone quieted, and let out a soft laugh. "No, I'm kidding… Bones just wanted us to take a minute…think about everything we've been thankful for…and maybe we could share it?" He said reaching for his daughter's hand as she looked up at him from her spot at his left side, and Temperance's hand on his right side. Antonia grasped Parker's hand, and each and everyone else gripped the hands of the people next to them.

"I just wanted to take this moment…" Temperance spoke up. "To say thank you to every person at this table for all that you have done for me. Thank you for supporting me through my difficult times, thank you for…coming back to me." She whispered, looking over at Booth, who smiled back at her. "For never leaving…" She whispered. "Thank you for your friendship… your loyalty… your smiles and hugs." She said, glancing to Angela and Hodgins, Cam, and finally Antonia, who was watching her mother very closely and a smile lit up her face. "Thank you for coming back home to us…" She whispered to Rebecca. "Thank you for not giving up hope." She whispered to Parker. "Thank you for helping me to face my fears." She said to Harding, watching him nod with a proud smile. "Thank you for being a constant support." She said to her brother and father. "Thank you all… because I couldn't have made it this far without you." She said, her voice cracking. "Thank you." She said again, as she closed her eyes and tried to compose herself as she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

She glanced to Angela, sitting beside her, and Angela smiled to her friend. "I'm thankful for my friends, my family… my expanding family." She said, letting out a laugh as she gently rubbed her belly.

"Same here." Hodgins said with a laugh. "Health… I'm thankful for everyone's health too." He chuckled. "That doesn't jinx it, does it?" He asked to a gentle laugh from everyone at the table.

Everyone at the table had their chance to claim what they were thankful. Most said friends and family, and Emma and Haley giggled as they exclaimed they were thankful for the week off of school. When it was Parker's turn, everyone was silent, just as they had been for each vow of thankfulness that came before. He looked nervous, his eyes moving around the table as his lips trembled.

"It's okay, Parker…" Antonia insisted, tugging his hand. "I promise I won't make fun."

"It's not that." He said, giving the little girl an irritated glare, he shook his head. "I'm just… I love you, Dad." He said, as tears filled the boy's eyes. "Every single day that you were gone… I went into my room and I prayed. I prayed that you were happy in heaven, that you were looking down on me, like you said would happen if something ever happened to you. I prayed, but… I never felt it in my heart that it was getting to you." He sniffled, watching the tears in his father's eyes. "I'm just… I had… this feeling, you know? A feeling that you were still out there, and I knew that if I said anything… that everyone would think I was nuts. So what I'm trying to say… I mean… thanks for not being dead, Dad. I'd hate to think of you making a fool out of me." Parker finished, a proud smile on the faces of both father and son.

Antonia was looking at the turkey, practically drooling over it as her father's voice shook her from her daydream. "Hey…yeah, you… what are you thankful for?"

"Um… I'm thankful for um…" She said as she looked around the table, her eyes settling back on the turkey in front of her. "For turkey…"

"Toni… focus…" Booth said, watching a slow smile on her face.

"Oh… and mashed potatoes!" She exclaimed as Booth smiled.

"Okay, I guess it's my turn." Booth said, squeezing his daughter's hand lightly.

"I'm not done with my turn, Daddy!" Antonia exclaimed, watching Booth glance to her, her lip stuck out at him, and everyone at the table knew that she was going to get her way. "Please, daddy?"

"Okay… but you mention one more food item, and…"

"I'm thankful that my daddy isn't invisible anymore, Amen." She said quickly as everyone sat silently for a moment, as her words traveled between everyone at the table. "Okay, Daddy… your turn." Antonia said, her father's focus snapping to the little girl as she squeezed his hand in hers. "You don't got to be afraid, Daddy. I won't make fun." She smiled supportively.

"Well, thank you." He said, winking at the little girl as he carefully stood up, releasing the two hands he was holding. "I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to be in the sunlight, instead of the moonlight. I am thankful that the truth has been revealed." He whispered, watching as Temperance's eyes never left his. "I am thankful that those that I love… have been cared for… and those that cared for them, are willing to share them with me once again." He said, his eyes moving warily to Max. "I am thankful that when I came into the light on that day… that Temperance didn't push me away. She's given me the sunlight… she's given me… a daughter. She's given me my family back, my life back, and all of these things are better than I could have ever imagined… better than I ever thought they could be. This is why I wanted to share with you… those who have gone from being my friends, to being so much more… I want to share with you two very important pieces of news." He smiled.

"Are we getting a puppy?" Antonia asked, and Booth laughed tenderly as he reached to her and pulled her from her seat, and into his arms, her hand resting in the same place it always rested, directly over his heart.

"No… not a puppy…" He said with a light chuckle. "But… you are going to be a big sister." He said, watching the little girl gasp.

"Bones is having a baby?" Parker asked, a bright smile on his face as everyone began talking at once.

"Yes…yes… that's one part of the news…" Booth said, the smile on his face becoming brighter as everyone quieted down. "The other bit of news is… that while you guys were all yammering in the living room about how hungry you were… Bones accepted my proposal." He said, pulling the ring from his pocket. Everyone watched as he slipped it onto her delicate finger and they all cheered for the happy announcements.

Booth took one more look around the room as everyone congratulated them and smiled, shifting the little girl in his arms, he kissed her cheek and moved to place her back in her chair. "Daddy…" She whispered, holding his shirt for a second as the chaos around them continued. "I forgot one more thing." She whispered.

"What is that, baby?" He asked tenderly, allowing all of the outside noise to melt away for a moment.

"I'm thankful that you're my daddy." She whispered, her words so innocent and pure that there was no way that she would understand the significance or weight of those words.

"I'm thankful for that too, baby." He whispered, kissing her forehead as she hugged him as he put her back on her chair, and went to officially starting their first annual family Thanksgiving feast.

**THE END... **

* * *

_***waves* Okay... i'm sure that there are plenty of you out there who weren't horribly happy with those last two words... I apologize... This 'phase' in the story is complete, and once again will continue in another story. That story will be entitled "Shadows in The Sun" And will be posted shortly (within the next week, possibly). Please read and review... The more input I get, the more I know that a sequel is wanted :)**_

_**I also wanted to thank my fellow bread truck drivers... Thnx4thegum and Doctorsuez ... along with all of my twitter fans and non twitter fans... if you all weren't there to drive my muse... I can't imagine what kind of trouble my imagination would get into. :) **_


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